Everyday Math

Math is everywhere! Your preschooler uses math every day in meaningful ways, and you can help guide these early experiences. Here are some ideas for exploring math together.

Number of the Day

Pick a number together and write the number on cards. Help your child find all the places in the house where he can see that number or find that amount of things. He can look at signs, labels, or books from written numbers, or use furniture legs, toys, windows, even his own body parts, to demonstrate sets of things.

Comparing and Counting

Prepare two containers filled with different amounts of small objects, such as colored cubes or plastic animals. Ask your child which container she thinks has more objects, why she made this prediction, and how she could find out for sure if her answer was correct. Then, count the objects together and see if she was right! You can also help her guess or estimate the amounts before she counts and see how close she comes.

Building as Math

Block building is a great way to practice addition and subtraction, classify by shape, and explore geometry, size, weight, and number. As your child builds, help him think about how many short blocks he needs to make a long one, how many more blocks he needs to make a tower ten blocks tall, which blocks are long enough to make a roof, or how he can make more squares using triangles or rectangles.

Measuring Me

Help your child figure out how to measure her height, arms, or legs using strings, blocks, paper towel tubes, or other objects. You can also trace your child's body on large paper, so she can easily measure her own arms, legs, feet, hands, and head. This is a great way to build math and thinking skills, such as comparing, estimating, adding and subtracting. You can also trace your child's feet and cut out the footprints. Encourage your child to use these paper footprints to measure other parts of the house.