The third in the series, Monster Math, this lesson focuses on measurement. Its creative exploration allows children to foster math skills without repetitive memorization.
This series fits well into a math box to return to time and time again.
Knife Block
1.) Get paper and glue and several pieces of broken spaghetti. Glue in order from smallest to longest.
2.) Arrange as many sizes of spoons as you have in your kitchen from a baby feeding spoon to the largest cooking spoon and lay them in a row from shortest to longest.
3.) Have your child count the spokes on his/her front wheel of his/her bicycles. Now count the back spokes. Are they the same? Then, count the spokes on your friend's bike. More or less?
4.) Gather up all the pencils around your house. Put them in order from the smallest to the largest.
5.) Cut a strip of paper that's as long as your pinkie finger. How many pinkies long is a butter knife? Toaster? Measure other things?
6.) Is the fridge wider than the kitchen table? Is the couch wider than the table? What's the widest thing in your house?
7.) Put about 12 items in a box. (Toothbrush, wooden spoon, paper clip, etc.) Order them from shortest to longest.
8.) Make a 12 pattern train with PATTERN BLOCK SHAPES. How many toothpicks long is it? Measure with toothpicks. Try other shapes.
9.) Roll Clay into a long snake. Measure with the NUMBER LINE.
10.) Make a book with 10 pages. Measure with the number line objects in your house that are 1", 2", 3",......10" Record and draw pictures.