homeschool math

How to Create a Kindergarten Math Game With Popsicle Sticks

October 4, 2024 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

A kindergarten math game is the best way to teach your child basic math concepts. Also, grab my other tips, ideas, and crafts for kindergarten on my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

Your child has fun and that helps him retain what he’s learning.

I took an old school favorite and moved it from a deck of cards to one of our favorite craft supplies, wooden popsicle sticks.

It is just fun and unique, making a ho-hum game a little bit more exciting.

Gameschooling is a fantastic idea, especially for younger children.

How to Create a Kindergarten Math Game With Popsicle Sticks

And it is a great way to introduce the simplest math concepts.

At the kindergarten level typically kid start learning number recognition,

Additionally, they learn counting, addition and subtraction, shapes, patterns, comparing, time, months of the year, and the days of the week.

While it may seem very basic, this game really teaches a lot of great skills to young children.

Not only is it good for math but this simple game has many other benefits that help develop strong minds.

Why Go Fish Makes a Great Kindergarten Math Game

Provides a sense of accomplishment to little learners.

When kids successfully collect pairs, they feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

This game is just plain fun!

Go Fish is an engaging game that kids of all ages enjoy playing and even adults can have fun with this one.

Teaches basic math skills. Go Fish helps kids practice basic math skills like number recognition.

Develops memory skills. Kids have to remember which cards they have and which cards they need to ask for.

Encourages social interaction. It teaches kids to learn how to take turns, follow rules, and interact with others.

Promotes language development. Kids can practice their communication skills by asking for cards and describing the cards they have.

Holding onto the cards or in this case, sticks helps to develop fine motor skills.

Math Resources for Kindergarten

Also, look at these fun hands-on resources and games for learning about math.

7 Kindergarten Math Games & Resources

Add some of these fun kindergarten math games and resources for hands-on math.

Melon Rind Clumsy Thief Junior Math Game

GAME-CHANGING FUN : A hilarious game of give and take where kids develop confidence and solid math skills. Every player has fun as cards are constantly changing hands!
EASY TO LEARN: Players look at their dealt hand for any two cards that add to 10 to make food stacks. Get stacks from other players if you have a card in your hand that makes 10 when added to the top card of an opponent's stack. Thief cards take food stacks. Trap cards stop the Thief cards. All players are actively adding and snatching. The player with the most cards wins!

ThinkFun Zingo 1-2-3 Number Bingo Game | Perfect for Kids

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY: ThinkFun's Zingo 1-2-3 provides a fun and engaging way for kids to develop critical skills like counting, simple addition, number sense, and word recognition

Math Dice Junior Game - Engaging Math Skills Builder |

MENTAL AGILITY ENHANCER: This game is designed to enhance mental math skills and cognitive abilities among kids aged 6 and up - a fun way to learn.
QUALITY AND TRUST: With over 50 million games sold worldwide, ThinkFun is a global leader when it comes to brain-busting puzzles and engaging games.
CRITICAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT: The gameplay offers a stealth learning experience where kids can develop early math skills while having fun.

Mathswatters Addition & Subtraction Game - 99 Pieces for Age 5+ Kids,

Swat, Learn, and Win!: Kids grab a swatter, add or subtract, and swat their way to new kindergarten math skills every time they play these fast-paced math games for kids!
Multiple Ways to Play: Designed for 1-4 players, these smart games for kids comes with many ways to play and learn—compete head-to-head, or boost with solo play!

Math Scramble Game,Educational Games for Kids,

BUILD new elementary math skills with this strategy tile game!
RACE to build and solve addition and subtraction equations--first one to use all their tiles wins!
MULTIPLE ways to learn math skills, both solo or with up to 3 friends!

MOBI Kids Fun Math Games for Kids 4-8

✅ Objective: Help build confidence and social skills in children but engages the entire family young and old by teaching and reinforcing basic math skills in a cool entertaining game setting. Parents and teachers will love this for beginner’s.
✅ How To Play: Each player selects one set of number tiles. Each toy set contains the exact same numbers. Players then connect their number tiles to form equations using operation tiles. The first player to connect all their number tiles wins!

Big Time Student Clock, Teaching & Demonstration Clock

Hidden gear mechanism automatically advances the hour hand when the minute hand is manually manipulated

Don’t forget that you can also use dice or playing cards for many math practice games as well.

MORE KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Craft Stick Go Fish Kindergarten Math Game

Play is just like the classic go fish game with cards but using numbered craft sticks instead.

If you need a refresher, I included basic instructions at the bottom to fit the sticks better.

Besides the basic go fish game, kids can use these numbered craft sticks as an interactive number line, or to add and subtract simple numbers.

Put a pair of each number face down on the table and mix them up to use for a classic memory game.

(Heads up. All of my games and hands-on ideas are tried and tested on littles. Guaranteed to have fun AND learn.)

You will need:

40-80 Jumbo craft sticks
Paint markers

First, write each number on the top of 4 craft sticks, be sure to write it clearly.

Add dots to match the number to help kids that don’t quite recognize all their numbers yet.

If you want to let your child have a little more involvement you can let them paint or draw on the backside of the sticks to add their own touch.

Let the paint dry completely then add all the sticks, numbers down, into a container that cannot be seen through.

How to Play:

Each person grabs 6 random sticks from the container and lays down any matches that they pick up.

Take turns asking one another for numbers you need, if you have it, hand it over, and the new match is laid down in front of the player.

Otherwise tell them to “go fish”, they then draw one more stick.

Continue until someone runs out of sticks and then have your child count how many pairs they have, the one with the most pairs is the winner.

Replace all sticks, mix them up, and go again!

Tick-Tock! How to Make a Hands-on Time Cool Paper Plate Clock

September 8, 2024 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This hands-on time activity is a creative and engaging way for kids of all ages to learn about telling time.

It’s also a great way to encourage their creativity and fine motor skills.

Let kids take the initiative to be part of the learning process right from the start.

Tick-Tock! How to Make a Hands-on Time Cool Paper Plate Clock

For example, they can paint, cut and write on their own learning manipulative.

This gives them ownership in it and helps them to better retain the lessons they learn.

Whether it is for preschool, kindergarten, or early elementary, this clock will work to teach time to the hour, minute, quarter, and half hours.

First, look at some of these fun books and manipulatives.

Books About Telling Time for Kids

I love to use living books when I can find them, then I like to add games or reference books when we study a topic like this.

9 Time Telling Books for Kids Who Love to Read and Be Read To

Add some of these resources to your day for telling time.Your kids will love hands-on games and ideas.

Clocks and How They Go

Describes the weight clock and the spring clock and how they work.

Educational Details: The clock face has large red numbers to match the hour hand, small blue numbers to match the minute hand, and a segmented color disk to help kids visualize "quarter
past" and "half past

The Secret Clocks: Time Senses of Living Things

Why do some plants blossom only during the day? How do certain birds know when and where to migrate? Why are some people "early birds" and others "night owls"? In this easy-to-read volume, Seymour Simon examines the inner biological clocks of people, animals, and plants and explains what makes them tick.

Perfect Timing Game

TIMES UP: Learn to tell time in this fast paced, fun and cooperative game. The goal of this Perfect Timing card game is to get the clock to the right place just in time.

Time Dice Pair

Jumbo 12-sided dice/manipulative to reinforce basic time-telling skills. Contains 2 dice: (1) yellow with blue numbers 1-12 to designate hours. (1) yellow with red numbers: 00 -: 55 to designate minutes.

The 13 Clocks

The hands of all thirteen clocks stand still in the gloomy castle on a lonely hill where a wicked Duke lives with his niece, the beautiful Princess Saralinda. The Duke fancies he has frozen time, for he is afraid that one day a Prince may come and win away the hand of the Princess—the only warm hand in the castle. To thwart that fate, he sets impossible tasks for Saralinda’s suitors. But when the bold Prince Zorn of Zorna arrives, disguised as a wandering minstrel, and helped by the enigmatic Golux, the cold Duke may at last have met his match.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

Clocks Tell the Time

Man has always found a great need for measuring time. This book begins with very early time-keeping, and goes through water-clocks, sundials and early clocks to modern ones. At the end is the Atomichron, which may be the accurate time-keeper that will go with rockets into space.Early mechanical clocks were worked by heavy weights, and had only an hour hand, as seen in the old clockmaker's shop used on page 4. At that time people did not feel the need to know the exact time, nor had they made a clock accurate enough to tell it. In this age of science, time must be measured exactly. The Atomichron should lose only one second in three thousand years.

Clock Learning for Kids

Unlock the joy of learning time with our practical and functional Montessori toys for babies. Enhance kids' clock learning to tell time with our toy clock.

Then look at some of these teaching tips about telling time.

Tips for Teaching Telling Time

To teach young children to tell time you want to…

Start with the basics- Explain the concepts of hours, minutes, and seconds.

You can use a clock with movable hands to demonstrate how they work like our paper plate clock activity.

Introduce the clock face– Show your child how to find the numbers 1-12 on the clock face.

And explain that each number represents an hour.

Teach your child to tell the hour- Start by pointing to the hour hand and asking your child what number it is pointing to.

Then, say the time out loud, for example, “It is 1 o’clock.”

Move on to minutes- Once your child understands how to tell the hour, you can start teaching them about minutes.

Explain that there are 60 minutes in an hour and that the minute hand moves around the clock face once every hour.

Hands on time activities in particular are the best way for kids to learn to tell time so besides the cool paper plate clock I have to show you today I have seven more hands on time activities.

More Hands-on Time Activities

You have to check out these interactive Free Printable Time Telling Puzzles, be sure to laminate them to make them last.

Play this fun Rush Hour Game – How to TEACH Kids How to Tell Time! and your kids won’t even realize they are learning.

Here you will find 7 Time-Telling Fun Hands-On Time Activities and a Simple Watch Craft that your preschooler can wear all day as they learn.

Telling Time Activity With Free Playdough Mat s

For an activity that helps teach time and also the history of how early peoples kept time you can learn how to Make A Rock Sundial and 20 other fun activities to boot!

Time to Match ‘Em Up is a great matching activity using something that I am pretty sure most of us already have in our home.

How to Make a Paper Plate Clock

Make it colorful and child made, and it will be instantly more interesting to your little learner

You will need:

Paper plate
brad/paper fastener
Cardstock
markers
Craft paint
paintbrush

First, flip the plate upside down and have your child paint it whatever color or colors that they like.

Set the plate aside and let it dry completely.

While you are waiting, use cardstock to cut out two hands.

Cut one slightly shorter than the distance from the center of the plate to the numbers and the other about 1” shorter.

Make holes at one end of the clock hands and push the brad through.

When the plate is dry use a marker to draw on your numbers one through 1-12.

Then use a different color to mark lines to be the minutes in between.

Poke a hole in the center with scissors or a sharp knife and push the brad with the hands through the center of the plate and open the prongs.

Tips:

For younger children, start with a simpler clock face using only the numbers 12, 3, 6, and 9.

To make the activity more challenging, have kids create a clock face with both analog and digital time.

Let each child paint different colored paper plates to personalize their clocks.

Encourage kids to create their own clock designs and decorations, fostering their creativity and imagination.

If your child is old enough to write, pencil the numbers in lightly and let them write over the pencil with a marker to practice writing and help them better retain where the numbers go.

To Play:

Have your child hold the paper plate clock in front of them.

Tell them what time it is, and have them move the string so that the brad points to the correct time.

Move the hands yourself and ask them to give the time.

Call out a time of day and have your child move the hands to match.

Encourage them to practice telling time with their paper plate clock throughout the day.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

June 10, 2024 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Fun geometry hands-on activities for high school can mean the difference in just getting by and really getting engaged in lessons. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.

Just because your child is in high school does not mean that they’ve set aside their love for Lego.

A fantastic way to incorporate Lego into lessons is to use them to create examples and identify angles.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

We have done Lego math in the past. But you can even use it for high school manipulatives for learning geometry.

First let’s talk about what geometry is.

Geometry is the part of mathematics that we use for calculating the distance around a circle, the angles that make up a triangle, or the amount of room inside of a cube.

We use it daily in art, navigation, in construction, sports, and even simple household tasks like measuring a surface area for wallpaper.

So, you can see why it is a necessary skill for your teen to learn.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Next, look at some of these activities.

These activities are a wonderful way to create a break in the typical textbook, worksheet lesson of high school geometry and can help make complicated lessons more understandable.

Look at this LEGO for geometry idea Pythagorean Theorem Lego Proof.
This Geometry Roller Coaster Project is a large scale lesson in engineering and problem solving. Although it’s written for a classroom, it can be used for one or two students.
Using Hands-On Inquiry in High School Geometry gives you ideas for creating some hands-on geometry lessons that include their observations and geometry tools.
Play the Simplyfun Shape Whiz game for an enjoyable lesson to reinforce some basic geometry shape information.
Bonus, this one post includes 5 Geometry Projects for Middle and High School that are fun while
Grab your deck of uno cards and try Using Uno as an Intro to Teaching Proofs for an advanced geometry lesson.
While Geometric Art For Kids is geared to younger kids I still really think it has value and appeal for the high school bunch as well.

Also, look at my post Ancient Greece Unit Study Play Stomachion Like Archimedes {Explore Geometry} to add a math element to your favorite unit study.

The resource Everything You Need to Ace Geometry in One Big Fat Notebook is a fantastic supplement to any curriculum.

In addition, it can be used for independent study and worked well to use with my LEGO activity I have for you today.

Teaching Geometry With LEGO Activities For High School

You will need:

LEGO
LEGO Baseplate
cardstock
Pen

Single row, long LEGO bricks work best for these activities.

And if you need a good basic set of LEGO because you don’t already have them lying around the house this is a fantastic option.

Two ways we discovered to practice basic geometry are through learning terms and identifying examples of them as well as identifying different angles.

The first way I have to practice geometry is a way to introduce or reinforce geometry terms.

Geometry Vocabulary

Point- Indicates a location.
Line-a straight path that extends infinitely in both directions.
Line segment –Part of a line with two endpoints.
Ray- Part of a line that starts at a point and extends infinitely in one direction.
Vertex –The point of intersection of two or more line segments.
Triangle – A shape with 3 sides and 3 vertices.
Angle- is formed of two rays with the same endpoint, vertex.
Parallel lines- Two lines in the same plane that are at equal distance from each other and never meet.
Perpendicular lines– Lines that intersect at a 90 degrees angle.

Write each of these terms onto cardstock and cut them into small strips to create labels.

You can carry out the activity in one of two ways, either create examples of the terms using various LEGO pieces or lay down the terms onto the base plate and have your highschooler create an example by building it with LEGO bricks.

Get creative with using single row bricks to create the examples, use single studs for your points, and make arrows at the end of rays with smaller pieces.

In the same way, create labels for acute, right, and obtuse angles and make examples for your student to match or let them create an example of each using random LEGO pieces.

Because LEGOs are meant to snap together at right angles and not obtuse or acute you will need a little help. Place your long skinny bricks on single studs to lift them above the base plate

You will then be able to swing them around freely to create different angles.

7 Time-Telling Fun Hands-On Time Activities | Simple Watch Craft

April 22, 2024 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Hands-on time activities are the way to go when it comes to teaching your child how to read an analog clock.

Another thing I like to do is apply learning to real life situations as much as possible.

When a child is learning time, it helps to attach it to things like 12:00 for lunch, 8:00 for bedtime, etc.

7 Time-Telling Fun Hands-On Time Activities | Simple Watch Craft

It’s a simple but effective way to begin teaching your child about AM and PM.

Today to give your child an activity that they can use to learn this new skill, I have a cute little tutorial.

It’s a simple watch craft your child can design and then use to practice telling time on as they go about their day.

But that’s not all, there are 7 more fun hands-on time activities to try.

They will get your child moving, thinking, and eventually telling time all day long as they move from meals to playtime to bedtime.

Books For Kids About Telling Time and Clocks

Next, look at some of these hands-on resources for learning about telling time.

Also, include older learners by reading some of these living books about clock and time.

9 Time Telling Books for Kids Who Love to Read and Be Read To

Add some of these resources to your day for telling time.Your kids will love hands-on games and ideas.

Clocks and How They Go

Describes the weight clock and the spring clock and how they work.

Turn & Tell Wooden Clock

The Secret Clocks: Time Senses of Living Things

Perfect Timing Game

TIMES UP: Learn to tell time in this fast paced, fun and cooperative game. The goal of this Perfect Timing card game is to get the clock to the right place just in time.

Time Dice Pair

The 13 Clocks

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Clocks Tell the Time

Clock Learning for Kids

Unlock the joy of learning time with our practical and functional Montessori toys for babies. Enhance kids' clock learning to tell time with our toy clock.

Here are a few suggestions for games and other resources that will have them calling out the time on analog clocks all day long.

7 Time-Telling Fun Hands-On Time Activities

Check out this rock sundial that will help your child learn small numbers and tell time using the sun to the hour.
Find out how Teaching Time Made Fun works kids gross motor skills while teaching them time.
These Telling Time Clock Playdough Mats are a fun way to incorporate sensory learning in a simple lesson.
Using a basic learning clock you can play Rush Hour Game – How to TEACH Kids How to Tell Time! In a really entertaining way.
Make use of the free resources in the yard like rocks by creating a Rock Clock and teach kids how to tell time with a creative twist.
Use up those leftover eggs by creating the Telling Time Match Up game, what a great way to get familiar with matching numbers and clock faces.
This Easy Telling Time Craft For Kids shows examples of both analog and digital clocks for practice.

Finally, look how to make this simple watch craft.

Simple Watch Craft

For young children practice identifying the numbers on the watch face.

After they are very familiar with them you can move on to telling time to the hour, half hour, quarter hour, in five minute increments, and finally down to the minute.

You will need:

sturdy cardstock
A metal brad
Scissors
Hook and loop tape
Small round object to trace
Laminating machine/sheets

First, to make it easy to read and wear if you want to find a small round object larger than your child’s wrist, I used a little bowl to trace the watch face.

Measure their wrist and trace then cut a strip of paper about 1 ½ to 2” longer and 2” wide.

Measure the space from the center of the watch face to a little shorter than the edges and cut out two arrows, one shorter than the other.

Cut out each piece and let your child color it then write 1-12 on the watch face around the outside.

Place each piece in laminating sheets and seal to make them sturdier.

You don’t have to do this step but the practice watch will last a lot longer

Cut the laminated pieces leaving just a small border.

Poke a hole through the arrows and in the center of the watch face.

Push a brad through the arrows and watch, open into place.

Hot glue the watch face to the center of the “strap”

Now place each side of velcro on either ends of the strap so that it can be put together and pulled apart. (one half goes on the inside uncolored portion, the opposite piece should go on the colored side.)

15 Hands-On Nature Math Ideas to Make Learning Come to Life

July 31, 2023 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 15 hands on nature math ideas for your younger kids. Also, you may love Hands-On Nature Study: Bird Color Bar Graphing Activity.

If you have a child who would rather be out filling their pockets with rocks than sitting still at the kitchen table learning to count, I have some fun hands-on nature math ideas for you.

But they are also great for kids who get bored on nature walks and need a little more structure.

Too, these ideas work if you feel like you haven’t accomplished any school this week, but you want to sit outside and enjoy the weather.

There are so many wonderful ways we can incorporate hands-on nature into many subjects, but have you ever considered math?

15 Hands-On Nature Math Ideas to Make Learning Come to Life

You can very easily enjoy nature study while learning math with your children.

Yep, there are lots of things you can do to work on math skills while in your own backyard, at the beach, walking around the neighborhood, in a field, at the park, or while hiking.

So, the next time you head out on a nature walk take a few of these ideas below along with you so that you are getting double the benefit out of your time.

Nature Items for Math Manipulatives

I not only have ideas for manipulatives but ideas for math tools to take with you on nature walks as well as some specific activity ideas to get you started.

You can use these items out in the field or bring them home for rainy days or just days that are too hot to get outside.

10 Nature Items to Use for Math Manipulatives

Leaves
Rocks
Shells
Acorns
Seed pods
Nuts
Fruits
Sticks
Pinecones
Feathers

Those items are great teaching for basic counting but there are a whole lot more ways to use nature items for math.

Real-world learning at its best.

Books to Include In Your Nature Study

Also, add some of these books to your day if you want to include a complete nature unit study.

6 Nature Study Books and Resources

Add one of these resources or books to your study about nature. They all give you a starting point or use one or two of them as a nature spine.

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World

See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.

Handbook of Nature Study

The Handbook of Nature Study is a classic Charlotte Mason text. A big book full of information on pretty much every area of nature study from tools to birds, weather, and rocks.

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

This beautifully packaged facsimile of Edith Holden’s original diary is filled with a naturalist’s masterful paintings and delightful observations chronicling the English countryside throughout 1906. As one of the few true records of the time in print, the handwritten thoughts and paintings contained in The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady transport readers to a more refined, romantic, and simpler time.

Botanicum

Filled with both recognisable, and tropical flora, Botanicum is the ultimate companion guide to the variety of plants, and how they have evolved and grow.

Curiositree: Natural World: A Visual Compendium of Wonders from Nature - Jacket unfolds into a huge wall poster!

Discover the interconnectedness of the natural world and learn why living things look and behave the way they do in a series of visually compelling information charts, maps, and cutaways, all illustrated in a nostalgic, vintage style. Packed with incredible facts about the natural world and the animals that populate it, the whole family will enjoy the full-page spreads grouped into the categories of habitats, species, and adaptations.

Nature Study & Outdoor Science Journal: The Thinking Tree Presents: A Creative Book of Observation, Drawing, Coloring, Writing & Discovery

The Thinking Tree presents: A Creative Book of Observation, Drawing, Coloring, Writing & Discovery Through Nature, ideal for all ages (even adults!)

Creativity and discovery at its best, this journal is a bestseller among The Thinking Tree publications! Your nature-loving student will treasure this journal designed to ignite their wonder of the outdoors. With more than 180 lessons and beautiful illustrations, the Nature Study Journal invites the student to read, write, draw, color, explore and appreciate the outdoors while covering a variety of subjects such as science, poetry, observation instructions, and more.

Additionally, look at these other fun ways to add hands on nature math to your day.

More Hands on Nature Math

Then, look at these ways to add nature math to your unit studies.

15 Hands-On Nature Math Ideas

1. COUNTING

A fresh method for counting that also helps build fine motor skills in little hands is to roll a die and have your child punch holes in leaves to match the number.

Take it to the next step and use it for addition, roll a second die, have them punch in that number then add them together.

2. SHAPES

Look for shapes occurring naturally in nature like squares, circles, triangles, etc.. point them out and your child will soon be finding them everywhere

3. NUMBER IDENTIFICATION

Teach your child to identify numbers by writing them on rocks, or leaves, or scratching them into the ground with a stick.

If you don’t want to leave permanent marks you can use chalk that is easily washed away. They can be used for ordering, skip counting, and addition/subtraction as well.

4. SORTING

Even the smallest toddlers can sort items by type such as leaves, rocks, and sticks.

5. STICK FRACTIONS

Cut 4 sticks of the same length. leave one as is, cut the next one in half, the next one thirds, and the last one into four equal pieces.

6. MEASURING

Take a ruler, yardstick, or measuring tape outdoors with you and teach your child how to measure the width, height, and circumference of trees, leaves, and more.

7. TALLY MARKS

Use similar-sized sticks to teach your child how to use tally marks for quick counting.

8. PATTERNS

Patterns are everywhere in nature, from leaf groupings of certain numbers to alternating colors on flowers.

9. SKIP COUNTING

You can use any type of nature manipulative for teaching skip counting but also look for patterns in nature to practice it, like this branch where the leaves are in groups of two.

10. ESTIMATING

Have your child grab a handful of pebbles, seashells, acorns, or whatever nature manipulative is handy, then have them guess how many are in their hand. Finally, count them out and see if they are close.

11. GEOMETRY

You can use sticks to create various geometric shapes for your child to identify. Or simply use a stick to draw them in the dirt or sand.

12. GRAPHING

Bring your items home and create a graph for items found-rocks, feathers, etc. or creatures seen on your walk.

13. COMPARING NUMBERS

Make two piles of objects then use leaves or small sticks to as an equality/inequality symbol.

14. SIMPLE EQUATIONS

Write out simple equations in the dirt or sand for your child to figure out, they can use the same stick to write the answer or nature manipulatives.

15. COUNTING FRAME (ABACUS)

Another simple idea that also works on fine motor skills is to carry a handful of small beads and thread them on skinny twigs the way you would an abacus for counting, or just give them a number and have them thread that many beads onto it.

You don’t need anything other than what you find outdoors for math but if you would like to bring along a couple of items to enhance the learning on your trip I recommend:

Ruler
Measuring tape
Small hand pruners (for cutting sticks).
2 Dice
Hole punch
Permanent marker/chalk for writing on rocks, leaves, etc.
Bag for collecting items to bring home.

homeschool math

Why Go Fish Makes a Great Kindergarten Math Game

Math Resources for Kindergarten

MORE KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Craft Stick Go Fish Kindergarten Math Game

Books About Telling Time for Kids

Tips for Teaching Telling Time

More Hands-on Time Activities

How to Make a Paper Plate Clock

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Teaching Geometry With LEGO Activities For High School

Geometry Vocabulary

Books For Kids About Telling Time and Clocks

7 Time-Telling Fun Hands-On Time Activities

Simple Watch Craft

Nature Items for Math Manipulatives

10 Nature Items to Use for Math Manipulatives

Books to Include In Your Nature Study

More Hands on Nature Math

15 Hands-On Nature Math Ideas

1. COUNTING

2. SHAPES

3. NUMBER IDENTIFICATION

4. SORTING

5. STICK FRACTIONS

6. MEASURING

7. TALLY MARKS

8. PATTERNS

9. SKIP COUNTING

10. ESTIMATING

11. GEOMETRY

12. GRAPHING

13. COMPARING NUMBERS

14. SIMPLE EQUATIONS

15. COUNTING FRAME (ABACUS)

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