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Step 1
Give the kids real-life objects to count rather than the same old plastic teddy bears they have been counting all year. Kids love counting objects that they are familiar with, like cereal or funny-shaped pasta.
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Step 2
Use real money (if possible) when teaching about money. I use real money when teaching my kids about the value of each coin instead of the cardboard cutouts that are normally used.
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Step 3
Use sports statistics to teach formulas and statistics. Have the kids use the sports page to calculate winning percentages and batting averages.
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Step 4
Relate the math to the kids' real life interests. Kids love to eat snacks. Allow them to use edible items such as popcorn or M&Ms and enjoy it at the end of the lesson. I teach a program called "Yummy Math," which stresses using edible materials. The kids love it!
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Step 5
Create fun word problems for the kids to solve. Place the kids' names in the word problems and use real life experiences in the math problems such as "Brian had 3 lunches on the field trip and lost 2."
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Step 6
Instead of measuring everything in inches and centimeters, use some fun, edible manipulatives to measure items, such as marshmallows or licorice.
Comments
heatherinks said
on 9/15/2009 This is great for making math fun for elementary students. Math was the ONE subject I said I would not teach but it was the only opening - so I learned to make it relevant and fun for my high school students. Math can be so much more interesting than most students experience. 5* God bless.
lenamv24 said
on 9/14/2009 Excellent ideas on making math fun for kids! This is very helpful. 5*
DiscountTickets said
on 9/14/2009 Such creative ideas you've got here, very interesting.
pieceofscrap said
on 9/14/2009 Right on! I used real money while teaching my son to count money. We played the "count it, keep it" game. He was thrilled when he counted it correctly and got to keep it for his piggy bank.
xrayness said
on 9/14/2009 Excellent article.