You Can Use Preschool Math Activities Easily
Maths are all around us. You can involve the children’s participation in adding, subtracting, counting, measuring, estimating and so on. In fact, a preschool math activity is as easy as introducing ice-cream to the diet of a child. Children are very observant and if encouraged in the right direction, can be excellent with math.
Using Preschool Maths Activities to Teach Math Basics
Children can learn maths faster than normally perceived in classrooms. In Asian and African countries where children learn trades through apprenticeship, it is found that they can do complex mathematical sums, such as how much would cost a quarter of a kg, how much to return when money is given, and so on. Children no older than 8-9 years old are able to manage the “shop” without the help of any adult.
The same capacity building can be achieved by using preschool math activities that capture and hold the children’s interest. For example, knowing that all children love coins, they could be taught their value by involving them is filling up their piggy box.
You could give them a few pennies and teach them to collect them till they become a nickel, when you will offer them one shinning nickel. This is easy, this is fun, and this can teach adding better than any classroom abacus or pen-and-paper method.
Another idea for a preschool math activity can come from asking the child to help in cooking. In fact, many adults complain about the keen interest of their children to “help” in cooking. Accept their help and through it, teach them math. This is an excellent opportunity for using preschool math activities for some effortless teaching.
For example, you could teach them the concept of fractions by asking them to give you one quarter cup flour for cake, half a liter of water, 5 grams of salt, and so on. There is math in each and every aspect of cooking. Use each and every step to teach your child a valuable lesson.
Another excellent avenue for using a preschool math activity is gardening. Children love gardening, and they will absorb quickly how far should the plants be planted, how tall they will grow, how many saplings should be in one pot, and so on.
Lastly, children can lean math through real games – such as tic-tac-toe, dice games and even chess. Children will indeed be able to learn planning, forecasting, counting, shapes, and more with the help of these games.