Connecting numbers to quantities

Activity! Number Sense

Start identifying how we use numbers in various ways. Talk about clothing size, cup and spoon measurements when cooking or baking, height, ages, distances, sizes and so on.

Also, start talking about how we represent things and people with numbers. This is best done visually for young children.

Activity! Data Collection

Cut out pictures of animals. Make a graph and ask child to organize the animals by number of legs.!

Activity! Scale - Lego

Try this lego scale. It is not useful for cooking, but both the building of and the using of can be loads of fun!

Activity! Estimation Exploration

1. Place one-cup measuring cup and a large plastic container for your bath time fun. Ask them to guess how many cups will fill up the container. (You can write it on the mirror with a white board marker). Then ask them to check it! The pouring is the fun part!
2. Select three or four clear containers of various sizes and shapes and a big bowl of ice cubes - ask them to estimate how many would fill each container. Count the ice cubes as you place them in each container. Were the child's guesses too high? Too low? Now ask the children to mark where they think the ice will melt to. After the ice melts, check the differences.
3. Mark a measuring cup at 8 oz. Grab an assortment of various sized bottles, mugs, bowls and cups that all contain exactly 8 oz. Fill the measuring cup and let child guess which container they think the water will fit in. Ask them if they think the water will fit in any of the containers? Ask the child to pour the water into one of the containers (a great way to introduce the idea of volume).
   
4. More and Less Game from Children's Museum Houston

Activity! Quantities Solids

• Provide scoop or spoon, small plastic or paper cups, a container of rice and a large container (for pouring and scooping)
• Allow child to fill small cups and then pour into larger container

Activity! Length While playing with blocks, ask child how many X blocks is your arm? How about your leg? How about my arm? My leg? Books on measurements from Early Childhood Math Group

Activity! Quantities Liquid

• Mark each plastic clear container with the right quantity: Cup, pint, quart, gallon.
• Allow to fill with water from the sink.
• Allow child to pour from container to container

Odds and Evens

Activity! Pairs

Ask kids to pair up socks after the laundry is done. Do the same with lids of containers.

Activity! Teams

Set up teams of dolls. Each team should have the same number of team members. After the teams have been assigned, play a simple game like pingpong into a bowl (or cup). Then collect team members and take one out or add a few more and make new teams.

Activity! Odds and Evens Decide

Play a game using your number sense to make the highest or lowest number possible. High or Low Game from Children's Museum Houston

Tempo

Activity! Tempo-pop

Activity! Odds and Evens

Activity! Fast and Slow

Minus/Plus and Equal.

Activity! Everybody Gets One

Play Everybody Get's One from Children's Museum Houston

Activity! Number Line Hop

Draw a long number line on the floor with chalk (or use a jump rope laid out or painters' tape). Call out addition or subtraction problems (ie 3 + 1, 5 - 2). Children hop on the corresponding number on the number line to find the answer. Variation: For younger children, start with addition problems and focus on hopping forward on the number line.

Activity! Beanbag Toss

Materials: Bucket, beanbags, markers. How to play: Write addition or subtraction problems on the bucket (e.g., 2 + ? = 5). Children take turns throwing beanbags into the bucket. The answer to the problem is the number of beanbags in the bucket.

Activity! Number Train Race

Materials: Open space, toys or objects representing numbers (e.g., cars, stuffed animals). Divide children into teams. Each team lines up their "number train" with objects representing numbers (e.g., 3 cars for 3). Call out addition or subtraction problems (e.g., 3 + 1). The first team to add or remove the correct number of objects from their train wins.

Activity! Button Sorting

Materials: Buttons of different colors, two bowls (or two types of beans). How to play: Separate buttons into two bowls (e.g., 3 red buttons in one, 2 blue buttons in the other). Ask children, "How many buttons do we have altogether?" (5). Then ask, "How many red buttons do we have left if we take away the blue buttons?" (3).

Activity! Make 5!

Two players - hands behind their backs. First player holds up 1-4 fingers of one hand. Second player must add the needed numbers to make 5. Variation: Make 10!

Activity! Domino Matching

Materials: Dominoes. How to play: Use dominoes with dots only (not numbers). Turn the dominoes upside down. Children pick two dominoes, count the total dots, and find another domino with the matching number of dots (representing addition). For subtraction, you can ask them to start with a domino (e.g., 5 dots) and find another domino that would leave them with a specific number of dots remaining (e.g., 3 dots - subtraction problem: 5 - 2 = 3).

Pattern Recognition

Activity! Pattern Leader

A game of follow the leader using pattern of block, block building and block collecting.

Activity! Pattern Walk

Ask child on a walk or hike to find five patterns. Compete to see who can find five first.

Shapes

Activity! Trace It (Step 1)

Got a tray? Place the tray with colorful construction paper, a pencil and a block (or shape) on it to be traced. Ask child to draw the same shape four times on each paper (but only on one side). Save the papers.

Activity! Cut it (Step 2)

• On a different occasion, give child the previously traced shapes and scissors on the tray and ask that the shapes be cut out.
• For each shape make a rule - If it has three sides, make three slits; if it has four, four slits; if it has no sides, four slits; if it has more than four sides, two slits. (Might help to do one rule at a time).
• Save them!

Activity! Tangram

Make your own Tangram

Activity! Build with It (Step 3) On the same occasion or a different one, bring out shapes with slits and ask child to build various things. Start simple - a creature, a house, a car, a boat, a castle. Let child struggle - don't make it for them! Save them in a jar or box. > Consider doing this project again with older kids and cardboard. Give them a few boxes, some good scissors, pencils, rulers and paints - task them with making a sculpture.

Activity! Three Dimensional (Step 4) On the same occasion or a different one, grab your building material and ask child to sort shapes together. Ask child to glue a three dimensional squares, triangles and rectangles. You can try other shapes, but not the circles. If you get dinner menus with magnet tape on them, consider removing them and gluing the magnet tape on to the shapes. If you don't have those, consider buying some magnet tape. It is easy to use, remove and reuse. Let child glue the tape on if possible, and then build what they would like. > Consider doing this project again with older kids using cardboard (too hard for young kids to cut). Task them with making the blocks on their own using scissors, pencils and rulers.

Resources