5 Fun Math Activities For Children at Home

With the summer holidays in full swing, children around the world are enjoying their time out of school. But that doesn’t mean they should stop learning! Anyone who remembers their childhood knows that rather than traditional methods, it’s much more interesting to learn while playing!

Playing “hopscotch” and counting to 10

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Everyone knows that sitting at a desk is not what children want to be doing in the summertime. So teach them their numbers with active games! Draw the hopscotch court with chalk right in your driveway, or make it inside the house on a rainy day using colored tape on the floor. This will only take you a few minutes, and counting from 1 to 10 and back down will become one of your child’s favorite activities. This classic game doesn’t feel like homework at all!

Learning shapes while eating tasty snacks

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Having trouble keeping your child focused on studying? Well, it’s easier to focus if there are delicious baked goods involved! They might not even notice they’re studying. Use treats to illustrate and identify different shapes. The greater variety the better! Donuts are circles, wafers are rectangles, shortbread cookies are triangles, ice cream cones are triangles - everything has a shape! You can even apply this concept to healthier snacks if your child isn’t a picky eater.

Learning pattern recognition while playing the designer

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For this activity, all you’ll need is a couple of white T-shirts, finger paint and a pair (or several pairs!) of little palms. Start by initiating a design on the shirt (for example, alternating red and blue handprints). Have your child try to continue the pattern. You can increase the difficulty of this game based on your child’s level - try introducing variables other than color (left and right hands, fingers, orientation of the hand, etc.) to complicate the pattern. If you have two or more children, you can try to get them to figure out each other’s patterns! On top of the practice with patterns, they (or you!) will get a nice shirt to wear at the end of the day!

Developing logic with stick puzzles

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All you need to give your child a challenge is a few sticks - they could be ice cream stick, twigs, spoons or anything else straight and narrow. Try this puzzle yourself! Move 2 sticks (and only two) to make the equation below correct.

If your child is able to solve it, create other similar puzzles for them to solve - or better yet, have them come up with a challenge for you! These critical thinking skills will come in very handy.

Multiplying numbers while keeping score

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For older children, darts is the ultimate game for mental math practice. Darts has a complex scoring system that requires players to add, subtract and even multiply points. Children who enjoy competition will have motivation to tally up their scores quickly!

Yes, during summer children lose some of the skills they learned during the school year. But you can easily help them catch up by simply spending some quality time playing together. Try some of the activities above and share your thoughts in the comments below. :)

Have fun teaching!