5 math activities to do at home

In this game, your child is a space explorer and their room is a new planet to discover. As they explore, the control tower (you) assigns small missions. Here are a few examples:

• On this new planet, can you find a box of blocks?
• Can you tell me how many blocks are in that box?
• If a little green spaceman were to eat all the blue blocks, how many blocks would be left?
• Etc.

Using the theme of space exploration, you can also ask your child to do the following:

• Solve riddles (e.g., What object is 45 X 70 cm? What object can be flattened? (a pillow)
• Plan their return to Earth (e.g., calculate travel time, pack necessary food rations)
• Etc.

There’s traditional bingo, which features letters and numbers, and then there’s math bingo. First, you need to make a bingo card. Next, write math equations on small pieces of paper and put them in a bowl. You can also ask your child to come up with the equations and answers. To play, pick an equation from the bowl and show it to your child. Ask them to place a token (e.g., a rock, a button) on the correct answer. The object of the game is to get a full vertical or horizontal line of tokens.

Even though this activity requires a lot of planning, it has terrific educational value, as it allows your child to practise their math skills while learning to make healthy food choices.

Getting the supermarket up and running is half the fun! Ask your child to help you prepare:

• Make bills and change (e.g., $5, $10, $0.50)
• Assign prices to all your supermarket products (e.g., apples, granola bars, milk)
• Give an amount of money to your child (e.g., $100)

Once the supermarket is ready, ask your child to do the following:

• Choose a recipe
• Make a grocery list
• Buy what they need while avoiding products with added sugar
• Etc.

All your child needs for this game is a simple tape measure (or ruler)! Tell them you’d like to decorate your home and need their help to make the right choices. You can ask them a few questions:

• What are the sofa’s dimensions? Can you find a spot for it between the bookshelf and the coffee table?
• How long should the kitchen curtains be?
• Would a 120 X 120 cm carpet fit between the bathtub and the toilet?
• Etc.

Clocks are great for learning to tell time, but they can also be used to practise fractions and skip counting by fives. Give your child a clock and ask them do these tasks:

• Position the hands so they indicate a quarter past, half past, etc.
• Move the small hand back by 5 roman numerals
• Move the big hand forward by 10 minutes
• Etc.

Required material to make a clock:

• A paper plate for the clock face
• A paper fastener to fix the minute and second hands to the clock face
• Construction paper to make the hands
• A felt-tip pen to mark the numbers