Did you know food and learning math go together? We are going to use items in your kitchen to make learning math FUN.
*Have your child use gumdrops or marshmallows and toothpicks to create geometric shapes.
*Use pies, Hershey's chocolate bars, and pizza to teach the concept of fractions.
*Use pretzel sticks, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and straws for addition, subtraction, and tally marks.
*Have your child use Teddy Grahams or Goldfish for counting activities. Tell stories while your child uses these objects to act it out, such as “There were a school of ten fish and three fish swam away. How many are left?”
*Use small objects, such as beans, raisins, and Cheerios, for counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In addition to these skills, you can use Skittles and M&M’s to create patterns.
There are even books that combine food and math! Here are two of my favorites:
The M&M's Brand Counting Book
by Barbara McGrath is the tastiest counting book yet! This yummy little counting book teaches the numbers 1 - 12, colors of the M&M's chocolate candies, and three primary shapes: the circle, square, and triangle. Hungry learners are rewarded in the last section of the book, where they learn simple subtraction by eating the manipulatives, twelve M&M's. The review page at the end ties it all together and reinforces newly learned concepts and skills.
To balance the sweets with something healthier, Apple Fractions
by Jerry Pallotta uses a variety of different apples to teach children all about fractions. Playful elves demonstrate how to divide apples into halves, thirds, fourths, and more. This innovative and enjoyable book allows children to understand fractions at a concrete level.
Enjoy making learning fun,
