Math Activities for Kids

Fine Motor Skip Counting Activity

September 5, 2019 By Terri Thompson

Have you ever bought a pack of paper plates to do one activity? And, then have 99 paper plates left over?

The struggle is real, right?

So, how are you going to use them up?

They’re too flimsy to eat on, so that’s not an option.

Your best bet is to come up with another fun paper plate activity, like this fine motor skip counting activity.

So grab a paper plate and let’s get going!

Grab a paper plate and some paper clips for this easy fine motor skip counting activity to help your kids learn to skip count by fives.

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Supplies Needed

Paper plate

Permanent Marker

Paper clips

How to Make Your Fine Motor Skip Counting Activity

Use your permanent marker and write the number zero near the edge.

Add five paper clips next to the zero to figure out how far apart you’ll need your numbers. After your five paper clips, write the number five.

Continue writing numbers around the edge of your plate, counting by fives, until you make it all the way around. Leave enough room for five paper clips in between each number. Because of this, I only had room for zero through 40 on my plate.

Use a second (or third) plate if you want to continue counting to 100.

How to Play This Fine Motor Skip Counting Activity

Provide your child with the prepared paper plate and a large handful of paper clips. You’ll need enough paper clips to make it all the way around your plate.

Starting at zero, work your way around the plate by putting five paper clips between each number.

Don’t forget to skip count along the way!

More Ways to Play

Work in reverse. If you have a plate with all the paper clips in place, go back around the plate and remove the paper plates while practicing skip counting.

Use this concept to practice any set of skip counting. Place the numbers further apart to count by tens or closer together to count by twos. You can have paper plates for counting by threes, fours, or even sixes. Use this for any set your child needs to practice.

Attach a plastic bag to the back of your plate to store your paper clips. Now, you have a great busy bag activity for your elementary-aged kid.

How would you play with this fine motor skip counting activity?

Learn Math With These Fun Games

I’ve always had a lot of success using games to help my kids with their math skills at home. It’s much more fun and rewarding that using flash cards are worksheets. Here are some fun choices of games to try at home.

Do More Activities With Your Family

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Do you want to do more fun family activities?

Green Eggs and Ham Addition Match Game

February 28, 2019 By Terri Thompson

We’ve got a few books at our house that have the tatters that only a well-loved book can get.

Green Eggs and Ham is one of those books.

We always have great fun reading it and even more fun doing activities inspired by the book, like this Green Eggs and Ham addition match activity to work on math facts.

Practice your adding to ten addition facts with this fun Green Eggs and Ham Addition Match game perfect for elementary kids.

This game was very easy and didn’t take too much time to make. Involve the kids and have them help put it together. Working together makes it go quicker!

Supplies Needed:

2 sheets green construction paper
Black marker
Scissors

How to make this Green Eggs and Ham Addition Match Game

Take each piece of paper and fold it in half. Fold in half again so that you have a simple accordion fold with four sections. This will help with the size for your ham and eggs.

You’ll want 11 ham shapes on one piece of paper and 11 egg shapes on the other piece of paper. So, you’ll have 3 shapes on each folded section of paper.

Draw simple ham and egg shapes inspired by the book.

To make this easier, I drew one ham shape, and cut it out. Then, I traced it ten more times. I did the same for the egg shape.

As you can see in the picture above, I made super-simple shapes. There’s no need to make it complicated.

Trace each shape with your black marker and then cut out all the shapes. Recruit the kids for this step. They’ll love to help!

Once you have all the shapes cut out. Write the number 0 – 10 on the egg shapes and again on the ham shapes.

The game is ready to play. It’s time to have fun making 10.

How to play the Green Eggs and Ham Addition Match game

Spread out the egg and ham pieces. Match one egg and one ham so that when you add the two numbers together, you’ll get 10.

Two-player version: Turn all the pieces face down and play like a memory game. But, instead of matching the two numbers, you’ll want to turn over two number that equal 10.

Pair this activity with a book

This fun math game is perfect to pair with a good book. Grab a copy of Green Eggs and Ham and one of these other fun Dr. Seuss books.

Do more activities with your family!

Paper Plate Multiplication Practice Activity

February 5, 2019 By Terri Thompson

We’ve now entered the world of multiplication facts with my youngest daughter. And, even though it’s my second time around this block, I’m still looking for new and fun ways to help her practice.

I think I found a winner with this Paper Plate Multiplication Activity. They’re fun, colorful, and perhaps most importantly, my daughter loves them.

Awesome!

Have fun practicing your multiplication facts with this simple Paper Plate Multiplication Activity. They're easy to make and make times tables fun.

Supplies Needed:

2 paper plates (for each set of multiplication facts)
Craft Paint
Scissors
Glue
Black marker

How to make your Paper Plate Multiplication Activity

Grab your craft paint and completely paint the top of one of your paper plates. Set aside and let it dry.

Note: If you’re short on time, this step of the process can be skipped. I love the color and think it makes the activity much more fun and colorful. But, you can certainly leave both of your plates white.

Once your paint is dry, flip your plate over and divide the edge into 13 sections. (For 2 x 0 all the way through to 2 x 12)

Use your scissors and cut each section from the edge of the plate to the first dividing line.

Flip your plate back over and write your multiplication facts on your cut sections.

Write one math fact per section. Start with your times zero fact and write your facts in order all around the circle.

In the center of your plate write a number representing which set of multiplication facts are on your plate.

Next, take your 2nd plate and apply glue to the center section. Place your colorful plate on top of the second plate and glue them together. Press down for awhile and let dry before your continue.

Note: Do not apply glue to the textured edge section of your plate! You need your edges to remain separate.

Once your glue is dry, flip up each of your sections and write the answer underneath.

That’s it! Your paper plate multiplication practice wheel is ready to use!

Fun ways to use your Paper Plate Multiplication Practice Tools

The easiest way to use this (and my daughter’s favorite) is to pick it up and use it to quiz your self on multiplication facts. You can check yourself by peeking under the flap.

These are also great to use with with pairs. One child can use their paper plates to quiz their partner.

These multiplication facts are so easy to take on the go. If you’re short on time and need to take some school work with you to sports practice, a waiting room, the backseat of the car, etc., just grab one of your multiplication paper plates. There are no small parts to lose.

How would you use one of these paper plate multiplication facts?

Our Favorite Math Resources

One of our favorite ways to practice math at home is with a fun game. Here are some awesome math games that I know you’ll love!

Do more activities with your kids:

Valentine Nonstandard Measurement Activity

January 28, 2019 By Terri Thompson

A couple of weeks ago, I walked into a craft store. I walked out with a couple of different sizes of heart doilies (and – ahem- several other things).

I had an idea for a Valentine’s reading game, but that was it. What else could I use them for?

Measuring, of course!

Grab those heart doilies and find a few things to measure. We’re going to have fun with a Valentine Nonstandard Measurement activity.

Use heart doilies for a fun hands-on way to practice measuring with this fun Valentine Nonstandard Measurement activity for kids.

What is measuring with nonstandard units?

Most of the measuring we do is with standard units, such as inches, feet, and centimeters. But, before we start using these standard units, the concept of measurement is introduced with nonstandard units. This is anything that is used to show a comparison in size. In this Valentine nonstandard measurement activity, we’re going to use small heart doilies.

Valentine Nonstandard Measurement

This activity is so simple and requires no set-up. All you need is a package of small heart doilies. The doilies stick together, so make sure to pull them all apart before beginning.

You can set up the learning by asking a simple question: How can we measure using these hearts?

Encourage your kids to line the hearts up to see how long different things are.

You can measure anything that is larger than the heart doily.

Measure body parts, like feet, arm length, or even full body length.

Or you can measure furniture.

Measure the length of a room.

Or measure your toys.

Extend the fun

Add more depth to this activity by recording your measurements.

Write down the object and how long it was.

When you’re done, look at your data. Which item was biggest? Which was smallest? Order everything from smallest to largest.

Talk through your data and make observations.

Measure something smaller than our heart.

For example, take a paperclip. How many paperclips do you need to be the same length as the heart?

Find some other smaller objects you can use to measure your heart doily.

Translate your nonstandard units into standard units.

This is a great way to extend the fun for kids who have moved beyond simply measuring with nonstandard units.

First, measure one heart and record the measurement.

Next, take your measurement recordings. If my book is four hearts long, how many inches is it?

It’s time to use your addition skills, or multiplication skills, to find out.

Our hearts were 3.25 inches. Get out your calculator if you need to, or round down to 3 inches to make the calculations easier.

Measuring with nonstandard units is always a fun activity and it was a great way to use those extra heart doilies.

Our favorite math resources:

We love using games to practice our math. It definitely makes learning fun. Here are some great ones you’ll love playing.

Math Activities for Kids

Fine Motor Skip Counting Activity

Supplies Needed

How to Make Your Fine Motor Skip Counting Activity