How many of you still freeze up when asked to do math on the spot? This probably offsets a deep childhood fear that still prevails right?
Do you want your child to be exposed to that? Of course not!
The earlier your children start learning math, the more comfortable they will be at it. So why not help instill and enhance your child’s knowledge of basic math principles with kindergarten math activities? By the end of the year, they should be able to recognize, order, and count items up to 100! Other such milestones include classifying subjects by size, creating and recognizing patterns, and subtracting and adding single-digit numbers.
While your child’s kindergarten teacher will ensure that they are on track, you can play your part in improving their cognitive skills by doing these kindergarten math activities with them. The idea is to integrate math into your child’s daily life, making learning math a fun and casual game rather than a lesson. In other words, teaching the way you wanted to be taught! In a fun and engaging manner!
Here are 5 fun early learning math activities you can do with your kindergartner:
Playing Board Games
Board games involving counting moves along with the rolling of the dice can improve simple arithmetic and number recognition skills. You can also raise the level by increasing the complexity by doubling the numbers that appear for each move. Some classic board game options are Snakes and Ladders.
Button Sorting
Buttons are very simple and you are bound to have some lying around. Well, you can use them to help teach your child how to learn math as they will not only recognize the various different shapes of the buttons but also learn to sort them based on color, size, and weight. Next, your child can then arrange these buttons based on the number of holes, size, or shape. This math activity for your kindergartners helps improve their measurement and data skills.
Numerical Collage
This is something that all of you can do! Break out your old storage of magazines and newspapers. Browse through them with your child, having them search for the numbers 1 to 30. Upon finding a number, your child can cut it out and you can help them make a number collage.
Estimate Weights
Does your child enjoy watching you potter around your kitchen? Whenever you are making a meal and gathering the ingredients together, be sure to ask your child to make an estimated weight judgment on the ingredient in question. Questions like ‘What is lighter – the pickles or the cheese slices?’ You can even play into the character by bringing out the food scale for trickier items, giving them early practice in reading and interpreting measurements.
Playing the Jumping Jack Game
Number pieces of A4 paper from 1 to 20 and lay these numbered sheets on your floor. You can then get your kindergartner to jump between the papers in numerical order, trying not to touch the ground as they go. Please ensure that the papers are well spaced so that your child can jump between them safely. If your child completes this paper jumping course, you can then encourage them to do it backward! You can also mix it up a little by shouting out a random number for them to jump on.
If you are looking for a proven way to give your child an academic boost early on, then you’re in the right place! At i-Maths, we will nurture your child’s critical and creative thinking ability through our time-tested math for kids’ concepts! Contact us to find out more about our i-Maths child development programs today!