Math for kids: Fun ways to build math skills and teach math concepts

Math skills for preschoolers

You can help your preschooler master early math skills simply by playing games in and around the house. Here are some fun ideas to try:  

Go on a number safari. When you're driving around town, have your child look for numbers in street and store signs, and on license plates. Call out the numbers as you find them. Your child should be able to recognize numbers up to ten before kindergarten.

Connect the dots. This old standby will help your child understand number sequencing; that is, that one is followed by two, two by three, etc. Bookstores are full of coloring books with connect-the-dot themes. There are also lots of free online templates you can print out.

Make a phone call. Write the phone number of a friend or relative down on a piece of paper. Have your child dial the number to give them practice reading numbers left to right.

Count everything around you. Count people standing in line, the number of steps to the library, and the cracks in the sidewalk.

Count and sort household items. Mix up the knives, forks, and spoons from the silverware drawer and have your child group them by type and count how many there are in each group. Do the same with your sock drawer (by color, by size), your child's stuffed animal collection (group the animals by big and small; put all the bears together). Have your child help you sort laundry. How many socks are there? How many T-shirts? Have your child sort them into groups by color, type, and size.

Go on a shape search around the house. Look for squares, triangles, circles, stars – any kind of shape. Your child will be expected to recognize, draw, and manipulate shapes well into 1st grade (not to mention high school geometry!).

Play with shape puzzles and blocks. Manipulating three-dimensional objects – playing with a shape-sorter box, for example – will introduce your child to basic geometry as well as help develop fine motor skills and spatial reasoning.

Make a game out of snack time. For example, give your child a handful of goldfish crackers, and draw a picture of a fishbowl on a piece of white paper. Put the fish in the fishbowl and have your child count them. Take one out and count again. Take two out and count again. You can also introduce basic fractions as you cut a sandwich in half and then in fourths.

Play pattern games. Incorporate math into mealtime. For example, give your child green and purple grapes. Have your child arrange them in different patterns: purple, green, purple, green. Or green, green, purple, green, green. This activity will develop your child's problem-solving skills and ability to think abstractly.

Listen to a counting song. Sing counting songs like this favorite: "Three little monkeys jumping on the bed; one fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, 'No more monkeys jumping on the bed!' Two little monkeys jumping on the bed..." Any variation on this counting song introduces basic subtraction.

Make a recipe with your child. Give your child measuring cups and bowls and let your budding chef measure out the ingredients while you read the directions out loud. An easy – and delicious – way to introduce concepts such as volume and weight.

Math skills for kindergartners

Your kindergartner will build on all the basic math skills they learned in preschool – identifying shapes, recognizing patterns, counting, and grouping by category. This year they'll be expected to take them to the next level (counting to 20 or higher, for example, or drawing and cutting out shapes to form pictures).

Go on a number hunt. When you're out running errands, have your child look for numbers in street and store signs, and license plates. Call out the numbers as you find them. Being able to recognize numbers up to 20 is an important skill at this age.

Connect the dots. Numbered connect-the-dot activities will help your child recognize number sequencing. Buy coloring books with connect-the-dot themes or print out free online templates.

Make a phone call. Write the phone number of a friend or relative down on a piece of paper. To give your child practice reading numbers left to right, have your child dial the number

Estimate the weight of a household object. Ask your child to guess the weight of a bag of flour, a dictionary, or a gallon of milk. Then show them how to use a scale to find out the real weight. Have them estimate their own weight, and that of other family members. While your child's guesses may be way off, you're introducing them to the concepts of weight and estimating.

Play pattern games. Make patterns with food. For example, give your child green and purple grapes. Have them arrange them in different patterns – alternate purple, green, purple, green, or do two purple then two green. This activity will develop your child's problem-solving skills and their abstract thinking.

Count and sort household items. Mix up the knives, forks, and spoons. Then have your child group them by type and count how many are in each group. You can do the same with socks (by color, by size), your child's stuffed animal collection (group the animals by big and small; put all the bears together). Have your child help you sort laundry into types of clothes, such as shirts and bottoms, and count what's in each group.

Go on a shape search around the house. Shapes are everywhere. Go around the house and hunt for squares, triangles, circles, stars – any kind of shape. Have your child draw and cut different shapes out of construction paper.

Play with shape puzzles and blocks. Manipulating three-dimensional objects – playing with a shape-sorter box, for example – will introduce your child to basic geometry as well as help develop their fine motor skills and spatial reasoning. Moving two-dimensional shapes such as tangrams (a set of geometric pieces that can be arranged to form pictures) helps with spatial reasoning as well.

Make a counting book. This activity has a reading and a math component: Help your child go through an old catalog or magazine. Have them cut out items that start with the letter "A" and paste them onto a piece of construction paper. Do the same for other letters in the alphabet. (No problem if you skip some letters.) When they're done, have your child count all the pictures on each page.

Make a game out of snack time. Draw a picture of a fishbowl on a piece of white paper. Give your child a handful of goldfish crackers to put in the fishbowl. Have your child count the crackers. Take one out and count again. Then take two out and count again. Although basic addition and subtraction aren't usually introduced until 1st grade, you can lay the groundwork now.

Make up dice or card games. You can introduce the concepts of greater than and less than with these classic game pieces. Roll a pair of dice. Ask your child which number is greater than the other – they'll soon recognize the dot groupings by sight: five dots equals the number 5, etc. Or play War with a deck of cards. Because the higher card number wins the hand, your child will quickly learn to distinguish between the numbers.

Listen to a counting song. Use this song to introduce basic subtraction. "Three little monkeys jumping on the bed; one fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, 'No more monkeys jumping on the bed!' Two little monkeys jumping on the bed..."

Make a recipe with your child. Read a recipe to your child and have them use the measuring cups to measure out the ingredients. This is an easy – and delicious – way to introduce concepts such as volume, weight, and even fractions.

Math skills for first graders

Adding and subtracting. Counting to 100. Making change for a dollar. You can help your child master these early math skills with fun activities you tackle together.

Play pattern games. Turn mealtime into a math game. For example, give your child green and purple grapes. Have them arrange them in different patterns: purple, green, purple, green. Or green, green, purple, green, green. This activity will develop your child's problem-solving skills and abstract thinking.

Estimate the weight of a household object. Ask your child to guess the weight of a bag of flour, a dictionary, a gallon of milk. Then show them how to use the scale to find out the real weight. Have your child estimate their own weight, and that of other family members, too. Use a scale to see what family members actually weigh and how close the guesses were.

Make a game out of snack time. Give your child a handful of goldfish crackers and draw a picture of a fishbowl on a white piece of paper. Have your child put the fish in the fishbowl and count them. Take one out and count again. Take two out and count again. This is an easy way to introduce subtraction, which some children find more difficult than adding.

Make up dice or card games. You can introduce the concepts of greater than and less than with these classic game pieces. Roll a pair of dice. Ask your child which number is greater than the other – they'll soon recognize the dot groupings by sight: five dots equals the number 5, etc. Or play War with a deck of cards. The higher card number wins the hand.

Have a book exchange party. Have each child bring along four or five used books to "sell." Price all the books under one dollar. Give each child one dollar in play money to spend and let them sort through the selection for about 15 minutes. When it's time to pay for the books, help the children add up the total and determine whether they have any money left over or have gone over their budget. This game reinforces making change and money skills.

Make a recipe with your child. An easy – and delicious – way to introduce concepts such as volume, weight, and fractions is to cook or bake with your child. Give your child the measuring cups and bowls and read them the directions.

Measure your family. Use a tape measure or ruler to record the heights of everyone in your family. Total the inches to see how "tall" you are all together. Try it again with everyone's weight.

Play board games that use counting and paper money. Games such as Monopoly Junior are aimed at ages 5 through 8.

Play with money. This is a family game: The goal is to be the first player to win a set amount of money (75 cents, 50 cents). Take turns rolling a pair of dice. Each person gets the number of pennies shown on the dice. As each player gets five pennies, replace them with a nickel. Replace ten pennies with a dime, and so on. The first player to reach the set amount wins. This activity reinforces grouping skills and counting by fives.

Listen to a counting song. Try any variation on this counting song to introduce basic subtraction. "Three little monkeys jumping on the bed; one fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, 'No more monkeys jumping on the bed!' Two little monkeys jumping on the bed..." 

Play a guessing game. Have your child think of a number between one and 100. Try to guess the number by asking questions such as, "Is it greater than 50?" "Is it between 35 and 55?" Then switch roles and have your child do the guessing.

Math skills for second graders

Adding and subtracting two-digit numbers. Telling time. Counting money. Even early multiplication. You can help your child get comfortable with 2nd grade math with these fun activities:

Estimate the weight of a household object. Ask your child to guess the weight of a bag of flour, a dictionary, a gallon of milk. Then use the scale to find out the real weight. Have your child estimate their own weight, and that of other family members. Were their estimates on target?

Buy your child a watch with an hour and second hand. Periodically ask them to tell you what time it is. Ask questions such as, "It takes me 15 minutes to drive to the store. Do I have time to get there before it closes at 5 p.m.?"

Play card games. Classic card games, such as War and Go Fish, reinforce basic math concepts such as greater and less than, as well as grouping by category.

Host a book exchange party. Ask each child to bring along four or five used books. Use sticky notes to add price tags that are all under one dollar. Give each child one dollar in play money to spend and let them "shop" for about 15 minutes. When it's time to "pay," help the party goers total their purchases and determine whether they have any leftover money or have gone over their budget. This activity reinforces making change and money skills.

Measure your family. Gather your family together and use a tape measure or ruler to record everyone's heights. Total the inches to see how "tall" you are all together. Get out a scale. Try it again with everyone's weight. This is a good way to practice adding two-digit numbers.

Play board games that use counting and paper money. Games such as Monopoly Junior are aimed at ages 5 through 8 but are still fun for parents or older siblings.

Play with money. Play this family game: The goal is to be the first player to win a set amount of money (75 cents, 50 cents). Take turns rolling a pair of dice. When each person rolls, they get the number of pennies shown on the dice. As each player gets five pennies, replace them with a nickel. Replace ten pennies with a dime, and so on. The first player to reach the set amount wins. This game reinforces grouping skills, and counting by fives.

Play a guessing game. This is a good one for a car trip: Have your child think of a number between one and 100. Try to guess the number by asking questions such as "Is it greater than 50?" "Is it between 35 and 55?" Then switch roles and have your child do the guessing.

Make a recipe with your child. Give your budding chef measuring cups and spoons, and read them the recipe while they do the work. This is an easy – and delicious – way to introduce concepts such as volume, weight, and fractions.

Math skills for third graders

Your third grader will continue to build on basic math skills such as addition and subtraction, telling time, and counting money. They'll also start to learn how to multiply, measure, and understand fractions. Here are some good ways to reinforce what they're learning at school:  

Estimate the weight of a household object. Ask your child to guess the weight of items such as a dictionary or a gallon of milk. Then use a scale to find out the real weight. Have them estimate their own weight, and that of other family members. How close were their estimates?

Buy your child a watch with an hour and second hand. Every now and then ask them to tell you what time it is. Also ask time-related questions like, "It takes me 15 minutes to drive to the store. Do I have time to get there before it closes at 5 p.m.?"

Use M&M's to teach fractions. Have your child count the M&M pieces in a bag. Then sort them by color. Count the number of green M&M's to find out what fraction of all of the candy is that color. Do the same with the other colors.

Fold a napkin. Fold paper towels or napkins into large and small fractions. Start with halves, then move to quarters, then eighths, and finally 16ths. Use markers to label the fractions.

Play card games. War and Go Fish are classic card games that reinforce basic math concepts such as greater and less than, as well as grouping by category.

Host a book party. Have each child bring along four or five used books. Price all the books under one dollar. Give each child one dollar in play money to spend and let them "shop" for about 15 minutes. When it's time to pay for the books, help the party goers add up the total and determine whether they have any leftover money or have gone over their budget. This activity reinforces making change and money skills.

Measure your family. Measure the heights of everyone in your family with a tape measure. Add up the inches to see how "tall" you are all together. Try it again with everyone's weight. This is a good way to practice adding two-digit numbers.

Play board games that use counting and paper money. Pick games such as Monopoly Junior that are aimed at ages 5 through 8 but are still fun for parents or older siblings.

Play with money. The goal is to be the first player to win a set amount of money (75 cents, 50 cents). Take turns rolling a pair of dice. Each person gets the number of pennies shown on the dice. As each player gets five pennies, replace them with a nickel. Replace ten pennies with a dime, and so on. This game reinforces grouping skills, and counting by fives.

Play a guessing game. Have your child think of a number between one and 100. Try to guess the number by asking questions such as "Is it greater than 50?" "Is it between 35 and 55?" Then think of a number and have your child do the guessing.

Make a recipe with your child. Give your child measuring cups and measuring spoons. Read them the directions and have them do the work. This is an easy – and delicious – way to introduce concepts such as volume, weight, and fractions.