Showing posts sorted by relevance for query math. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query math. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, April 15, 2016

Playful and Easy Mathematics with Building Toys (And our favorite math books!)

Wanna know a secret?  In college I majored in Engineering and minored in math.  Eek.  Surprised?  Well...it's true!   I'm a bit rusty now... but I will always have a soft spot for mathematics. There was something about solving a difficult problem that was so thrilling and satisfying.

Now that my son is older, my husband (who is also a math lover) and I have been trying to help him to love math too.  With a new baby at home, I just haven't had time lately to plan math crafts and activities.  (Mucho props to all you homeschooling mamas out there... don't know how you do it!)   But, I've been giving myself a bit of slack and telling myself that it's ok.  We've still been learning math together... just in a more open-ended and playful way.  


Playful Math Learning with Kids

Playful and Easy Mathematics with Building Toys- Math fun for kids!

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!  For my full disclosure, click here.

Monday, February 26, 2018

Origami Friendship Math Quilt Craft

Brr, it's cold outside!  Lately I've been enamored with quilt designs and origami crafts Their bold colors and gorgeous geometric patterns really make me swoon!  Today's post combines my love for both crafts.  These origami paper quilts are really quite beautiful to look at.  Folding them can be a bit of challenge, because there are so many units to fold.  But, make them with some friends and you're sure to have some indoor fun during these cold winter nights.

Origami Friendship Quilts


How to make origami paper quilts- such a fun kids' math art and craft idea to do with friends

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of change when you purchase items through the links.  Thank you for your support and the grocery money.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.


Tuesday, June 7, 2016

100 Color Challenge

Ever wonder just how big 100 really is?  Lately my son and I have been talking about numbers.  While small numbers are easy to imagine... large numbers always seem quite vague.  100?  1,000?  1,000,000?  10,000,000?  We just don't have much experience dealing with numbers larger than 20 in the real world.  So I came up with this really easy combination math activity and art activity.  We challenged ourselves to make 100 colors together!

100 Color Challenge!


100 Color Challenge- See what 100 looks like with this great math and art activity for preschoolers and kindergarters!
This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a teeny tiny bit of money from any purchases made through the Amazon links below.   Thank you for your support! For my full disclosure, click here.


Monday, February 19, 2018

Mystery Grid Art Challenge

Howdy! Today I'm sharing a STEAM activity that combines art and math.   Put on your creative hats and grab your favorite color pencils.  We're trying our hand at the Mystery Grid Art Challenge!

Think you can conquer the Mystery Grid Challenge?

(Well, read on and find out!)

Mystery Grid Art Challenge- In this fun STEAM activity, players use their art and math skills to recreate a mystery image bit-by-bit.



Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Pi Day Inspired String Art Activity

Ah, good old Pi Day.  That special holiday only celebrated by geeky math and pizza lovers.  It's definitely my kind of holiday!  Today I'm adding to our list of easy, low-prep Pi Day Activities with this neat one that combines art and math.  Tada!  We're making some Pi Day inspired String Art!

Pi Day String Art Actvitiy

Pi Day String Art- Simple and beautiful art and math activity to celebrate Pi Day Holiday
This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Monday, May 6, 2019

No-Sew Felt Drawstring Pouches

Looking for an easy, summer camp craft?  Or, do you have a child who loves collecting little toys or coins?  Or, are you looking for a sweet way to hold teeth for the Tooth Fairy?   Or, are you looking for a crafty way to teach about math and circles?

Well, today's super easy felt craft is the perfect craft for you.  We're making super easy, no-sew felt drawstring bags!

No-Sew Kid Made Pouches!

No sew felt drawstring bag- such a fun kids craft for holding small collections, coins, or even tooth fairy teeth!

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small bit of money for any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for your support.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.


Friday, June 5, 2015

Make Fun and Colorful Number Chart Sticker Math Art

When I was a kid, I loved learning about patterns.  There was something super thrilling about being able to predict what came next.  Today I'm sharing a colorful STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) Activity that combines my love of patterns, color, and math!  We're making some groovy Number Chart Art!  This activity is the perfect way for kids to practice number recognition, pattern-making, multiplication, addition, and subtraction... while making some beautiful artwork too!

Let's make Number Chart Art! 

Number Chart Art- Practice number recognition, patterns, addition, subtraction, and multiplication all while making beautiful works of art!
This post contains some affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

How to Draw Cute Bunny Tessellations: An Easter Math Activity

Is anyone else surprised that Easter is just around the corner? Today I'm sharing an Easter Craft that also doubles as a Math activity. (I love it when art and math mix together, don't you?) Today we're drawing these adorable bunny tessellations.


How to Draw Cute Bunny Tessellations:


How to Draw Bunny Tessellations- A FUN STEAM kids Mathematics activity for Easter





Friday, August 29, 2014

Shape Touch and Find Game

Now that Chuck is almost 3 I'm trying to do more educational activities with him.  Besides learning our numbers, we're also working on identifying different shapes.  Here's a fun shape activity that we've recently been doing together.        

Let's learn about shapes!


Shape Touch and Find Game:  A great way to teach shapes and math to little kids

(This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you so much for your support!)


Early childhood mathematics education is something I feel quite strongly about.  Before I was a mommy, I was working on my doctorate degree in education. Although I never finished writing my dissertation (for reasons that you can about here),  I did spend  many years observing and studying how preschool children learn mathematics.  I also had the wonderful opportunity to work on a research-based preschool math curriculum called  Big Math For Little Kids.

This Touch and Find Shape game is one of my favorites from that curriculum.  It's a great activity because it helps young children to learn the number of sides and corners in shapes in a really fun and interactive way. 

Let's play the touch and find shape game!


Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Op-Art Christmas Ornaments


Last week we made some Optical Illusion Christmas ornaments for the tree. The results were so groovy that I had to share them here!


Making Op-Art Ornaments with Kids


How to make Op-Art Christmas Ornaments with Kids


This post contains affiliate links. This means I make a tiny bit of grocery money from each purchase made. Thank you for your support! For my full disclosure policy, click here.


Friday, February 16, 2018

Let's Build Beautiful 3D Card Structures!

What happens when you have access to the internet, shortened daylight hours, a craft-and-math loving kid, and a deck of old playing cards?  Well,  if you're me... you rally everyone together to do a STEAM activityYeah!

Tired of bouncing off the walls one night, our family tried our hands at making these nifty 3D Card Sculptures.  They came out pretty cool and I thought I'd share them today with you!

Let's Make Beautiful 3D Card Sculptures


how to make cool card sculptures from playing cards- such a fun STEAM activity to try out with kids!



Thursday, June 23, 2016

Tape Resist Dinosaur Bone Art (And our favorite 10+ Dinosaur Books!)

I love it when an art and science combine to create a beautiful and easy kids STEM project. When I was growing up science, math, and art were always treated as fairly different topics.  And I get why they taught us that way... it's easier and we get to dig down deep into each one.  But I wish that my kid self also experienced how all three things topics were linked.  Don't artist use math and science when making art?  Isn't there beauty in math and science? Certainly!  And so my inner nerd and artist gets very excited when my son and I do a project that touches on what seem to be different areas.

Ok... but I digress.  Recently my son and I visited our local natural history museum's dinosaur exhibit and marveled at the size and design of t-rex bones.  (Gosh.  Those are some ferocious creatures!  So glad they don't live today.  Eeek.)  So, inspired by that visit and this awesome human skeleton tape resist painting idea, we made our own very beautiful and scientific tape resist dinosaur bone skeleton paintings! 

Tape Resist Dinosaur Bone Paintings 


tape resist dinosaur bone paintings for preschool STEM and ART project
This post contains affiliate links.  This means that I make a tiny bit of money whenever you purchase something through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you so much for the extra grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Healing math

I was having a rough day yesterday and feeling quite glum. Thankfully, a friend called and cheered me up with some kind words and a math question. (She's studying to be a teacher.) I'm not sure why, but working on her math question cheered me right up.

Here's the question:

We know that
A pair of suspenders and a pair of socks cost 18 dollars.
A tie and a pair of socks cost 22 dollars.
A tie and a pair of cufflinks cost 25 dollars.
A shirt and a belt cost 37 dollars.
A pair of cufflinks and a shirt cost 33 dollars.
A belt and a pair of socks cost 17 dollars.

Given all this, how much does each item (pair of suspenders, pair of socks, shirt, tie, pair of cufflinks, and belt) cost?

Have fun!

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

FREE Draw the Other Half Symmetry Sheets

 Did you enjoy doing "Draw the other Half" Sheets as a kid?  For some reason, I really loved drawing symmetric images when I was in elementary school. There was something very satisfying about carefully creating matching mirror images. So today, I'm sharing these FREE printables with you. :) Hopefully, your kids will enjoy observing the picture, counting the different parts, making measurements with their eyes, and drawing.  Have fun!


FREE Draw the Other Half Symmetry Sheets

FREE Draw the other Side Half Printable Sheets Elementary Education Handouts Math School Winter classroom


Friday, October 17, 2014

Preschool Science: Let's Make Charts!

While I enjoy making things with Chuck, I'm also always looking for easy ways to incorporate mathematics and science into our daily activities too.   I loved math and science as a child, so I'd love it if he appreciated those subjects too.  Since he's only 3, our activities have to very pretty hands-on and relevant to his interests (like our shape dice,  cardboard bridges, and shape touch and find activities.)  We love taking walks outside.  So I incorporated science and math into our walk and created this chart to help us count the number of different things in our neighborhood. 

STEM ACTIVITY:  Make Charts With Preschoolers!

Easy preschool STEM activity- Make charts!


This was a super easy STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity to do with my preschooler.  It required very little prep and we practiced our observation, counting, and data analysis skills in the process!

Here's how we did the activity!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Fire Truck Number Hunt Game

Lately Chuck's been enjoying playing number games with me.   One of our favorite ways to learn math together is playing this Fire Truck Number Game. 

Easy kids math activity- find numbers... using fire trucks and emergency vehicles!

To find out how we play this game, check out PBS Adventures in Learning  today!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Pi Day Activity- Make Pi Day Bracelets!

This Friday (3/14) is Pi Day!  Pi is a mathematical constant referring to the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.  It's an irrational number, which means that it goes on forever and never shows a repeating pattern.  Every year it's celebrated on 3/14 because the first three digits of Pi are 3,1, and 4.  Now if you're looking for an easy way to celebrate Pi day, we've got a great collection of Pi Day Inspired Activities.  Today I'm sharing these nifty Pi Day Bracelets!  What makes this a great Pi Day Activity?  Well, the beads are strung according to Pi's digits. (Cool, right?)   It's a great way to combine math, art, and crafting!

Pi Day Craft Activity Make Pi inspired bracelets
Interested in making your own set of Pi Day Inspired bracelets?  Keep reading!

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Groovy Sticker Snowflakes Art (Printable included)

With the start of the new school year, our family is still trying to find its new normal.  Transitions from school to home can sometimes be rough.  So we've been trying to keep things easy with more downtime in the afternoon.  We play at the park, read books, or do simple open-ended crafts.   Today I wanted to share a really easy open-ended snowflake craft that my son and I really enjoyed.  We pulled out some old stickers and made ourselves some groovy sticker snowflakes! 

Groovy Sticker Snowflake Art- Fun Winter Art Project for Kids
This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for the grocery money.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Pathways to love

With Valentine's day just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to include a Valentine's day inspired math brain teaser.

Can you figure out the number of paths that spell the word "Love" if only vertical and horizontal moves to adjacent squares are permitted?





By the way, here's the answer to yesterday's math brain teaser.

Did you figure it out?



Answer to be revealed tomorrow!
(Problem taken from NCTM Mathematics Teacher Dec 2010/Jan 2011)