For many children math is a difficult subject. It is a good idea to help your children to continue to develop their math skills during the summer holidays. It doesn’t have to be boring or a chore! We’ve put together a selection of fun activities for adults and children do together at home.
Time related activities
- Convert Clocks
If you have a digital clock, try to write the time in an analogue way, if you have an analogue clock, write the time digitally or on the 24 hour clock. Check the time together at regular intervals.
- TV Times
If you watch TV ask your child to find out what time their favourite programs are on.
What time do they finish?
How long are they on for?
Ask them to calculate how much TV they want to watch for week.
- Birthdays
Look at a calendar.
Can your children find out how many days there are in a week, in each month, in a year?
How many weeks are in a year?
How many months are there in a year? Name them.
Which is the sixth/last/third month etc?
When are the birthdays or important dates in your family’s year? Put them in order or make your own calendar showing these special dates.
What are the different seasons and when do they start?
Mass activities
- Kitchen
Record the weight of different foods you have in your kitchen.
Which are in kilograms (kg) and which are in grams (g)? Do you children know how many grams there are in a kilogram?
Choose 5 packs and order them from lightest to heaviest. Are the big packs always heaviest? Are the small packs always lightest?
Are there any units that your children are not familiar with?
- Recipe
Look at a recipe for something you like. In what units are the ingredients measured? Follow the recipe reading the scales accurately, then enjoy sharing what you have made together!
- Scales
Weigh different items around your home using any scales you have (kitchen or bathroom).
Focus on accuracy. What items added together make 2kg or 100g?
- Fruit and Veg
Find a variety of fruit and vegetables. Estimate how much they weigh then weigh them accurately. Put the items in order of mass. Can they add any together to make 300g, 50g or 2kg?
Perhaps make a fruit salad or vegetable stir fry. How much did the peelings weigh?
Capacity
- Water
In the bath/kitchen sink/paddling pool/bucket pour water from different sized containers. How many little ones does it take to fill the largest one?
Put the containers in order of capacity. Does the tallest/shortest container have the biggest/smallest capacity? Use familiar objects like yoghurt pots, bowls or plastic bottles.
- Coloured Water
A few drops of food colouring in the water makes reading scales much easier.
Use a measuring jug of coloured water to measure the capacity (in litres and/or millilitres) of known items. Order them from smallest to greatest capacity.
- Units
In shops, look at and discuss any products that are sold by capacity, for example paint, lemonade, soup or milk. Estimate, then calculate, how much liquid you drink each day.
Stay tuned for next week’s blog post where we will be putting together more educational activities for you to do at home with your children!
Light in the Attic Learning 