Math concepts kindergarten
7 Kindergarten Math Activities To Make Learning Fun
Young children are often eager to learn new skills and concepts. That’s why introducing kindergarten math activities can be so effective.
One thing to always remember, though, is to make learning at home fun and engaging because children learn best through play. And, luckily for you, our experts at HOMER know a thing or two about that!
This article will give you a detailed guideline to help your child get a solid mathematical foundation. These easy at-home activities are fun, engaging, and offer lots of learning opportunities.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
Kindergarten Math Concepts
Before we dive in, it’s important to understand which concepts your young learner will be tackling in kindergarten. That way, it’s easier to know which activities and math skills to focus on at home.
The following are the key math principles your child may know by the end of their kindergarten year:
- Counting and cardinality
- Recognizing numbers beyond 10
- Adding and subtracting single-digit numbers
- Recognizing shapes
- Classifying objects by size
With the principles above in mind, we’ve compiled a list of activities that will help your child develop these essential skills.
7 Fun Kindergarten Math Activities
1) Shape Hunt
What You’ll Need:
- Notebook
- Crayons
What To Do:
Start by selecting any two objects around your house that look different but have the same shape. Then, give your child clues about one of the objects. For example, you might say, “It has a round shape.”
Your child will need to act as a detective and solve this shape mystery! When they are confident that they know what this object is, encourage them to take their detective notebook and draw the item.
Repeat this process for the second object.
Once your little detective has found and drawn the two objects, you can evaluate them and discuss other items with the same shape. So, for something that’s round, this can be plates, pizza, door handles, and so on.
Once you’re confident they understand the properties of the shape, you can play the game again with another shape (triangle, square, etc.).
You don’t have to limit yourselves to your indoor space.
You can also head outside and search for many interesting shapes in your garden, local park, or neighborhood if you’d like.
Find out more about this interesting game from our blog.
2) Count The Beans
What You’ll Need:
- Spoon
- Dried kidney beans
What To Do:
For this fun activity, you will need to take a spoon and hold it outstretched. Your child will then proceed to put one dried kidney bean at a time onto the spoon.
When the first one falls off, you then count how many beans you managed to get on the spoon.
You can play this game with a larger spoon as well. For this, the numbers will get higher, so your child will need to be familiar with higher numbers before they’re ready for this one.
To help, a simple 10 frame should do the trick (a 10 frame is basically a rectangle with 10 equal spaces (five on top and five on the bottom).
If, when counting the beans, you end up with more than 10, you can put each set of 10 in a small paper cup, allocate the cups to each frame, and then add everything for the final tally.
This activity helps kindergarteners continue practicing their counting and gain an understanding of number sense.
3) Building Sets With Blocks
What You’ll Need:
- Building blocks
What To Do:
This activity requires you to ask your young learner to build a color tower with a specific number of blocks. For example, “Build a blue tower with 10 blocks, a red tower with eight blocks, and a yellow tower with eleven blocks.”
All this information will need to be remembered by your child, so this can be a great way to help build memory. Children will also continue practicing colors and counting skills with this activity.
4) Number Guessing
What You’ll Need:
Magnetic numbers (0 – 9)
What To Do:
For this activity, your child will need to put their hands behind their back. You will then place one of the magnetic numbers in their hands for them to feel. Can they guess the number?
If this is a little challenging at first, it can help to have another set of magnetic numbers that they can see as they feel.
This is a great sensory activity that can help familiarize children with each number’s interesting shape and unique qualities.
5) Shape Hopscotch
What You’ll Need:
- Different colored paper
- Scissors
- Painter’s tape
What To Do:
Hopscotch is one of our favorite games here at HOMER. If you’re looking to play the traditional game, you can check out this link, which includes other fun math-related activities in addition to Hopscotch.
For this article, we decided to switch things up a bit with shape hopscotch. All you need to do is cut out six different (but easily recognizable) shapes and give each shape its own color (for example, red circles, yellow triangles, blue squares, purple stars, etc.).
Once you have your shapes, tape them to the floor with painter’s tape. While taping, ensure that the spacing works for your child (the shapes aren’t too far apart).
You can encourage your child to jump, hop, or wiggle through the shapes.
Here are a few ways they can make it through their shape maze:
- Call out colors or shapes for your child to race and find
- Have them hop from one side to the other side by only touching one shape or color
- Give them directions as they go, and ask what they’ve landed on. For example, “Jump three shapes to the left, one shape up, and two shapes right. What color and shape are you on?”
This is an excellent and fun way for kids to continue working on their gross motor skills while incorporating shape and color recognition. Children will also work on the important skill of following directions.
6) Make A Number Line
What You’ll Need:
- Chalk
- Paved area outside
- Deck of cards
What To Do:
On your paved area outside, draw a large number line with chalk. You can write numbers up to 10, 20, or even 30 as your child becomes familiar with those numbers.
Next, take five red playing cards (numbers 1 – 5) and five black playing cards (numbers 1 – 5).
Then, you each get a token which you’ll place in the middle of the number line. Mix the cards and put them face down.
Next, take turns picking cards. A red card means you go up the number line based on the card’s value (for example, if you pull a red five of hearts, you move up five spaces). A black card, on the other hand, means you go down on the number line (red four of clubs = down four spaces).
If you end up below the number one or above the top number on the line, you’ll stay put until all players have had their turn.
After each player has picked four cards, whoever is highest on the number line wins!
7) Snowball Battle
What You’ll Need:
- Paper
- 3 small buckets
What To Do:
Crumble your paper to make “snowballs.” Then, place your buckets at the end of the room. Challenge your child to toss the snowballs into any of the buckets until they reach a target number (e.g., 10).
If you have multiple kids, this can turn into some friendly competition with a timer.
How many can you land in five minutes?
You can also vary the game a bit for older kids by having them toss all 10 snowballs into the three buckets and then write down how they got to 10 (for example, with 3 balls in one bucket, 4 balls in the next, and 3 balls in the last). How many ways can it be done?
Gross motor and counting skills come into play when engaging in this activity.
Tips For Helping Kindergarteners With Math
The above activities should help your child practice and understand their math skills. Additionally, here are a few key points to keep in mind.
Incorporate Math Into Everyday Life
Math is all around us! It is in the shapes of objects and buildings, the measurements we take when baking, and the sorting of patterns. This makes it easy to incorporate math into everyday activities.
Remember that the more practice your child gets, the easier it will be to grasp these foundational concepts.
Make It Enjoyable
When something seems too challenging, kids can quickly become overwhelmed and give up before starting.
Help your child understand how much fun math is by regularly introducing them to math activities in a fun, relaxed way.
We recommend checking out the HOMER blog to see what other entertaining learning games your child can play to build their math skills.
Practice Positive Reinforcement
Positive feedback is one of the key components for your child to continue having a healthy relationship with mathematics. So, when they finally grasp a concept they’ve been struggling with, make a big deal out of it by praising them.
And, if there’s a math skill they haven’t grasped yet, be patient and continue practicing. Soon enough, they’ll get it!
Lay A Solid Foundation With Kindergarten Math Activities
Sometimes children (and adults) view math negatively. You’ll often hear them express how challenging it is. But kindergarten math activities can help build positivity and confidence!
While it can be a challenge, math is still one of the most important subjects children learn and can benefit them for the rest of their lives.
That’s why building math skills early on matters.
Engaging in fun, entertaining, and educational kindergarten math activities can help children achieve just that. And our list above offers great ways to practice.
Check out the HOMER Learn & Grow app for even more math activities and to discover how we can help your young learner thrive!
Author
Math Skills for Kindergarten, What Your Child Will Learn, Komodo Math
- Math Tips
- Education
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As your child heads into kindergarten, you’ll be feeling all sorts of emotions. You may be wondering: How can my baby be that old? Is she ready? What exactly is he going to learn in kindergarten?
While kindergarten may have changed since you were a child, it still forms the foundation of your child’s schooling and we wrote earlier about how to prepare for a successful start to the school adventure.
In math, students will learn the basics of how numbers work while exploring place value and the concepts of addition and subtraction.
But there’s no need to figure everything out as your child does - this article will help you get a head start by knowing what to expect.
In kindergarten your child will learn how to:
1. Count to 100
Going into the school year, your child may be able to orally count to 10 or beyond. By the end of kindergarten, expect that counting to advance to 100. But don’t worry, we’re only talking about counting orally. Your kindergartner will not be expected to write all the numbers to 100.
In most kindergarten classrooms, teachers count the days of school with the children. By counting each day, children gradually become more fluent with bigger and bigger numbers. At the end of 100 days, kindergarten classrooms often have a big celebration with many more opportunities for counting.
At home: To support your child’s counting skills, encourage your kindergartner to count as high as possible.
This is a great task to give your child in the car - or even at bedtime!
2. Answer “how many?” questions about groups of objects
As well as counting to 100, kindergartners will be asked to count how many objects are in a group. Students need to be able to physically count objects one at a time, assigning one number to each object as they count. This is a skill called one-to-one correspondence.
At home: Ask children to tell you how many toys they are playing with and watch how they keep track of each object that is counted. If your kindergartner counts the same object twice or skips an object, encourage another try.
3. Solve basic addition and subtraction problems
In kindergarten, children start to develop an understanding of addition and subtraction within 10. Kindergartners start by solving problems involving physical objects, and as the year goes on, students learn to draw pictures to represent addition and subtraction problems.
They will even begin to solve simple word problems.
At home: Present two groups of blocks (less than 10 in all) and have your child add the blocks together. As your child develops understanding, you can ask simple addition or subtraction problems without using the physical objects as a support.
4. Understand the numbers 11-19 as a ten plus some ones
Though it may seem quite advanced, your kindergartner will begin to understand the concept of place value and that position makes some numbers bigger than others - ie get to grips with the idea that 21 is bigger than 12. Students may use place value blocks to be able to “see” how ten ones become a ten.
At home: When counting blocks or lego bricks at home, make a group of ten. Then add on extra “ones” to make the numbers 11-19. You can even talk about place value when looking at written two-digit numbers.
5.
Name shapes Kindergartners will learn about 2D and 3D shapes. They should be able to name different shapes while describing their features. Kindergartners love to recognize shapes in the real world!
At home: Help your child by having them spot squares, cubes, spheres, rectangles, etc. Challenge your kindergartener to draw pictures using basic 2D shapes, then talk to you about the drawings. Making and continuing shape patterns is another fun way to help engage your kindergartner as they learn about shapes.
Throughout the year, make sure to ask your child about what’s happening in kindergarten math. Give your child an opportunity to teach you by sharing what he or she has learned. Get ready for a fun year in kindergarten!
Found this useful? Check out our grade by grade math guides from Kindergarten to 5th grade
Written by Lily Jones, Lily loves all things learning. She has been a kindergarten & first grade teacher, instructional coach, curriculum developer, and teacher trainer.
She loves to look at the world with curiosity and inspire people of all ages to love learning. She lives in California with her husband, two kids, and a little dog.
About Komodo – Komodo is a fun and effective way to boost K-5 math skills. Designed for 5 to 11-year-olds to use in the home, Komodo uses a little and often approach to learning math (15 minutes, three to five times per week) that fits into the busy family routine. Komodo helps users develop fluency and confidence in math – without keeping them at the screen for long.
Find out more about Komodo and how it helps thousands of children each year do better at maths – you can even try Komodo for free.
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Development of mathematical concepts in preschool children in the face of new reality challenges
Kalichak Lyudmila Petrovna,educator of the highest qualification category MKDOU d / s No. 388, Novosibirsk |
Kurasova Sofya Leonidovna,teacher of the highest qualification category MKDOU d / s No. 388, Novosibirsk |
The formation of elementary mathematical representations is assigned by the Federal State Educational Standard to the educational field "Cognitive development". Targets suggest: the child's possession of general methods of mental activity (classification, comparison, generalization, and others), the simplest graphic skills and abilities, mathematical terminology; the ability to count, measure, model; the ability to navigate in the quantitative, spatial and temporal relations of the surrounding reality.
We encounter mathematics all the time in kindergarten. Children naturally learn it during the day. It is in their daily life. Children play without suspecting that they are mastering knowledge and skills. Toddlers willingly participate in games, learning about different objects: about their properties, such as shape, color, size, weight, material quality, space. It is not easy for all preschoolers to master this science, especially for children with disabilities. Some people don't want to do math. But they are ready to play every minute, even in didactic games. Our task is to "awaken" cognitive interest, to make learning entertaining.
In her book Mathematics in Kindergarten, Lidiya Vasilievna Mikhailova-Svirskaya writes: “Mathematics is connected primarily with the concept of “order”. It appears due to the application of basic mathematical concepts: classification, sorting, categorization. Therefore, in the group we always make sure that things are put away in their places.
During the morning circle with the guys, we count: how many children came today? How many are missing? Structuring and classifying: who speaks first with a message? Who will be second, third? During the game, for example, we offer roaming board games, where each move is determined by a die. We determine the direction of movement and the position of things in space: between, next to, forward ... We get acquainted with the concept of "speed": faster, slower. We are constantly looking for numbers in the environment, shapes: what numbers did you find? What are they here for? Who found the circle? We measure and compare. For example, how tall is this tree? How many steps do you need to take to get to a certain place? How many floors are in the house? We apply temporary concepts and explain them: what day was yesterday, and what day was today?
Mathematics is not just dry numbers and strict figures, it is the key to ingenuity. For preschoolers, it should be tangible. They accept only games and visual tasks.
The role of didactic games in the mental education of children is undoubted.
Didactic games on the formation of mathematical representations can be divided into the following groups.
1. Games with numbers and figures.
2. Time travel games.
3. Games for orientation in space.
4. Games with geometric shapes.
5. Games for logical thinking.
Do-it-yourself games are valuable in preschool. This is the care and attention of the master. Materials for creation: improvised - fabric, yarn, buttons; natural raw materials - leaves, flowers, acorns, chestnuts, sticks; stationery: glue, colored paper, cardboard. Imagination is the most important ingredient.
We pay special attention to the saturation of the medium. The following games were purchased: the Magnetic constructor, smart bees and mice - Bee bot robots, developing Nikitin's games. We designed file cabinets with tasks for the Geoboard board, a mathematical tablet, Gyenesh logical blocks, Kuzener sticks and others.
The current stage of development of society involves the widespread use of ICT in education: we use educational computer games, the Internet as a source of additional information, illustrative material, multimedia tools, for example, presentations.
Parents of our students are active participants in the educational process. They make didactic games and manuals for the development of mathematical concepts in children with their own hands, prepare presentations, baby books with children, select material for mini-museums, and exhibit collection materials. In our work with families, we also use sliding folders, for example, "Games for the development of children's mathematical abilities", booklets.
Children grow up and gain experience. We are constantly looking for materials that arouse children's curiosity. In our preparatory group, a mathematical corner has been replenished. Mathematical lapbook "Wise Owl" was designed and aroused interest.
A mini-museum of money “Young Financier” was organized, a collection of “Watches” was presented on the topic “Time”, a “Chest of measuring instruments” was accumulated (measurement of length, mass, time) and other things that are necessary for practicing creativity at home and can be used in a mathematical corner for practical purposes.
Math skills are very important and it is important to look for ways to learn in a fun and playful way. The conditions created for this in the preschool group awaken children's observation and curiosity, cognitive activity.
References.
1. Arapova-Piskareva N.A. Formation of elementary mathematical representations. - M.: Mozaika-Sintez, 2006.
2. Beloshistaya A.V. Formation of mathematical abilities: ways and forms // Child in kindergarten, 2001. No. 1. e. 5-17; No. 2. p. 9-25.
3. Beloshistaya A.V. Teaching mathematics in a preschool educational institution: a methodological guide.
– M.: Iris-press, 2005. 320 p.
4. Bostelman Antje. Math Anytime! A Practical Guide to Early Learning in Mathematics. GEF DO. Publisher: "National Education", 2016.
5. Mikhailova-Svirskaya L. V. Mathematics in kindergarten. Educational and practical guide for teachers of distance learning. GEF DO. Publisher: "National Education", 2015.
6. Nishcheva N. V. The development of mathematical concepts in preschool children with ONR (from 6 to 7 years old). Publisher: Detstvo-Press, 2016.
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| "Development of mathematical abilities in preschool children through play activities" The concept of "development of mathematical abilities" is quite complex, complex and multifaceted. Mathematical development of preschoolers is understood as qualitative changes in the cognitive activity of the child, which occur as a result of the formation of elementary mathematical representations and related logical operations. Mathematical development is a significant component in the formation of a child's "picture of the world". The use of a variety of didactic games contributes to the formation of a child's mathematical concepts. In the game, the child acquires new knowledge, skills and abilities. Games that contribute to the development of perception, attention, memory, thinking, the development of creative abilities are aimed at the mental development of a preschooler as a whole. In elementary school, the course of mathematics is not at all easy. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of the educator and parents is to develop a child's interest in mathematics at preschool age. Introducing this subject in a playful and entertaining way will help the child to learn the school curriculum faster and easier in the future. Recommendations, assignments, development exercises mathematical abilities Preparation for teaching mathematics is carried out with the help of exercises aimed at developing the logical thinking of children, at mastering the simplest mental actions, getting to know the shape of the object, their location, with the relationship between them (to the left, more, the same). Much attention is paid to graphics (image of figures). All exercises are entertaining in nature, and fairy tales help kids learn the basics of mathematical preparation, provide an opportunity to develop observation skills, and increase interest in mathematics. For a variety of children's activities directed by adults to develop a child's mathematical concepts, the following are characteristic:
Games designed with these provisions in recent years have been called logical-mathematical. Moreover, a mandatory requirement for these games is their developmental impact. Playing logic and mathematical games together with adults or on their own, children learn:
At the same time, they master both prelogical actions, connections and dependencies, and pre-mathematical ones. Logical and mathematical games are designed by the authors based on the modern view on the development of the child's mathematical abilities. Naturally, at preschool age, one can only speak of the formation of the prerequisites for mathematical abilities. These include the persistent desire of the child to get the result:
Thanks to games, it is possible to concentrate attention and attract the interest of even the most uncollected children of preschool age. In the beginning, they are fascinated only by game actions, and then by what this or that game teaches. Gradually, children awaken interest in the very subject of education. In a playful way, instilling knowledge in the field of mathematics in a child, teach him to perform various actions, develop memory, thinking, and creativity. During the game, children learn complex mathematical concepts, learn to count, read and write, and close people help the child in developing these skills - his parents and teacher. 
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It consists of interrelated and interdependent ideas about space, shape, size, time, quantity, their properties and relationships, which are necessary for the formation of "everyday" and "scientific" concepts in a child. 
Often, children experience various kinds of difficulties in mastering the school curriculum in mathematics. Perhaps one of the main reasons for such difficulties is the loss of interest in mathematics as a subject. 
For example, when building a house (the game "Logic house"), the child, making the next move, is placed in the conditions of choosing connections between objects drawn on "bricks" (the main building material). This may be the dependence of objects depicted on bricks in terms of color, shape, purpose, meaning, belonging, etc. Compliance with the number of storeys of construction and the total size of the house requires the establishment of quantitative relationships (mathematical relationships). 
