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Kindergarten math activities

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Have fun with math games

Math games are a wonderful way to get children to think! When math-related activities are fun, children won't even realize they are learning.

From basic math games (like addition riddles or sorting activities) to complicated math games (like sudoku or word problems), playing with numbers is an easy way to get your child thinking and learning while he has fun! The variety of math games available is endless, so this page is devoted to math games for preschool- and kindergarten-aged children.

Start counting

Simple counting games are a great way to help your child become familiar with numbers.

- Show your child a group of objects, such as beads, coins or buttons. Place them in a row in front of him. Direct him to start at the left side and touch each object as he counts. This will encourage accurate counting and also reinforce the concept of one-to-one correspondence.

- Practice counting by ones past 20. This is a rote memory exercise, so to make it more fun, put some music on and march, counting up one number for each step you and your child take. Or ask your child to clap his hands for each number as he counts.

- Practice counting down from 20 to 0. Children enjoy pretending that they are sending a rocket into space. So when your child gets to zero, ask him to yell "blast off!" Clapping or stepping as you and your child counts, as suggested above, will add some interest to this activity.

- Play board games that require your child to count spaces. Watch him move his playing piece one space for each number he counts.

Counting worksheets

Counting worksheets are a great way to introduce your child to basic counting and numeral recognition. Encourage your child to count by using his finger and touching each picture on the page one time as he counts it.

Sorting is fun

Sorting is the process of separating a group of items into different piles, each with a specific characteristic. For example, items can be separated according to color, size, or shape. This is a typical math activity in preschool and kindergarten classrooms, so practicing at home will get your child ready for his school year.

Sorting worksheets

Sometimes it can be challenging to create sorting activities at home because few people have bowls of beans or buttons just lying around the house, waiting to be sorted. Sorting and classifying worksheets are a perfect way to help your child practice sorting since each worksheets has all the colorful pictures your child will need to sort away.

You can begin with the basic worksheets that will challenge your child to identify which 2 or 3 items belong together and which item does not. Then you can introduce the advanced worksheets that will challenge your child to sort items according to his own system. Do all blue things go together and all red things go together or should all toys go together and all foods go together? It will be fun to see what sorting system your child uses.

Play with patterns

Another activity that is part of a preschool and kindergarten curriculum is patterning. A pattern is any sequence that repeats. Beginning patterns may be AB (red block, blue block, red, blue, etc.) or ABB (red block, blue block, blue block, red, blue, blue, etc.) or ABC (red block, blue block, yellow block, red, blue, yellow, etc.).

Begin by creating a pattern and asking your child to continue it. Then ask your child to create his own patterns. Touching the items in the pattern and saying the characteristic aloud is helpful when creating and extending patterns.

Pattern worksheets

Pattern creation is an activity that is learned through practice -- the more your child observes and creates patterns, the more he will become proficient at that activity. Pattern worksheets are a great way for your child to practice this skill set.

Encourage your child to begin with the beginning pattern worksheets which focus on the basic ABAB pattern. Once he is comfortable identifying and completing this pattern, he will be ready to tackle the intermediate and advanced pattern worksheets which will challenge him to recognize complex patterns -- and continue them!

Learn the numbers

Learning the names of numerals and the amount they represent will be very helpful for young children as they begin school. Practice at home will give children confidence as they approach math work at school. Point out numbers when you see them and say the names. Or make flashcards with the numbers printed on them and teach your child one or two numbers at a time.

Number worksheets

Learning the numbers can be as easy as 1-2-3! Each time your child learns a new number, encourage him to pull out his trusty fingers and count aloud the corresponding number of fingers. This will help reinforce his understanding of the amount each number represents. number worksheets are another great way to get your child counting. Always encourage him to count from left to write (which is the direction eyes naturally move when reading) and also encourage him to use his finger to touch each item one time as he counts it.

Estimating

Estimating takes some practice because children often have no idea what a reasonable guess at an amount would be. For example, children seeing a jar filled with jelly beans are likely to guess "one hundred" instead of 15 or 21 or even 34. With practice, children can begin to make reasonable estimations.

Fill a small jar with beads or beans. Ask your child to guess how many are in the jar. Ask other family members to make the activity more fun. Then empty the jar and ask your child to count the items. See who made the closest guess.

Order the ordinals

Learning the number ordinals gives children a way to describe the order that they see in the world. The most commonly used number ordinals are:

**First
**Second
**Third

Of course, the list goes on and on. I recommend teaching a preschool or kindergarten-aged child the number ordinals up to tenth. Beyond that, children only need to add the letters "th" to the end of the number to create the ordinal number (such as transforming the number thirty into the ordinal number thirtieth.)

Ordinal number worksheets

Ordinal number worksheets can be a lot of fun. (So is being "first" right!)

Let your child test his understanding of the ordinal numbers with ordinal number worksheets. Start with the beginning worksheets that focus on the most commonly used ordinals: first, second and third. Then progress to the intermediate worksheets that focus on the ordinal numbers: first, second, third, fourth and fifth. Finally, when your child is ready, introduce the advanced ordinal number worksheets that focus on the first ten ordinal numbers: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth.

Don't forget about graphing!

Bar graphing worksheets: Bar graph worksheets are a lot of fun.
Pictograph worksheets: Is your child too young for bar graphs? Try pictographs instead!
Tracing numbers worksheets: Help your child learn to properly write each number.

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tfire12 Oct 4, 2011 @ 11:33 am | delete

This lens is right up my alley - I majored in math in college. Great ways to get kids excited about math.