How Combining Summer Fun And Math Skills Practice Engages Kids

6/23/2024

Summer time is supposed to be fun, but we don't want kids to stop learning for a couple of months so here are some ideas to keep the learning happening while enjoying the summer break. Many of these ideas can be used throughout the year as well.

Math happens all around us, but we often overlook it. There are so many different real world activities that can be done that involve math. Here are a few ideas to try.

$Combining summer fun and math$

Measurement activities

Cooking and baking are great ways to practice using measurement and then enjoying the food afterwards. When measuring ingredients, kids get practice with fractions, addition, multiplication, and division. They also get to learn about temperatures.

For more measurement practice, use rulers, tape measures, or measuring cups to measure objects around the house. Compare lengths, weights, and volumes to practice measurement skills.

Outdoors activities

Kids love to be outdoors during the summer, so take advantage of that time to incorporate some math activities. Sports is a great way to do math. Kids can keep score, calculate averages, and measure times and distances. For example, how far they can throw a ball or how long they can run.

Get out into nature with math. Kids can collect natural items like leaves, rocks, or flowers and use them for counting, sorting, and pattern-making activities. They can explore concepts like symmetry and classification. They could also do a math scavenger hunt where they look for different shapes, patterns, and objects.

$combining sports and math$

Working With Money

There are a few different ways that money lessons and practice can be done. Here are some ideas to consider.

1. Create a store and practice counting money, making change, and budgeting.
2. Go shopping. Give the kids a budget and let them help with making a shopping list, comparing prices, and calculating totals.
3. Do a yard sale and let the kids have an area or table where they can sell some of their things. Let them take responsibility for handling the money for their sales. They could also have a lemonade stand or sell cookies as part of this activity.

Physical activities

Adding movement or physical activity to math can help reinforce concepts in a fun way. Here are some ideas to consider.
1. Use jumping rope, clapping games, or songs to practice skip counting and multiplication tables.
2. Solve math problems while playing hopscotch.
3. Do some timed running activities and practice graphing the results afterwards.

skip counting and memorizing facts activities

Critical thinking/Spatial reasoning activities

Being able to think critically and reason spatially are skills that require practice. Jigsaw puzzles and games of logic work well here. Many board game activities can also work. Building things also helps. Here are a few ideas to try.

1. Use building toys like LEGO or blocks to explore geometry and spatial reasoning. Challenge children to build specific shapes or structures and discuss their properties.
2. Solve number puzzles and riddles together. You can find these in puzzle books or online, and they help with logical thinking and problem-solving skills.
3. Work on jigsaw puzzles, Sudoku, or other logic puzzles that require spatial reasoning and critical thinking.

This is only a small sampling of things that can be done to incorporate math activities into real world situations while having fun. They will enjoy doing these kinds of activities and reinforce or maintain their skills without them even realizing it.

After all, summer is supposed to be a break from school so doing lots of worksheets and math lessons is not really the way to get the kids engaged when they just want to get outdoors and enjoy their break.