- It’s all about keeping math HANDS-ON
- That’s not how kids learn.
- Make a “Finish the Equation” activity – it’s so much more fun than a worksheet…
- “Find the missing number to make the math problem true.”
- Why not add a scavenger hunt element to Finish the Equation?
- I love activities like this!
- My son had the best time…
- When will you make a Finish the Equation activity?
Working on addition skills? Try this Finish the Equation math activity!
Activities don’t have to stop once you leave the #toddleractivities hashtag. Big kids need, love, crave, and learn from activities just as much as our little do.
Case and point: this amazing Finish the Equation math activity – perfect for all those Busy Big Kids!
RELATED: Curious how I taught my kids preschool? Check out my 190 day activities program!
It’s all about keeping math HANDS-ON
My motto with math: the longer we can teach math hands-on, the better.
Kids learn by doing. They learn by interacting. They learn by playing and moving. WE KNOW THIS.
It’s not revolutionary information but for some reason, once kids hit big kid age we have a tendency to put them behind a desk, hand them a pencil, and open up a workbook.
That’s not how kids learn.
We need to end this nonsense of big kids sitting to learn and working through math on paper only.
Let’s get these kids up, moving, interacting, playing, and laughing as they learn some not-so-easy concepts.
We all know it’s a better way to learn.
RELATED: Want to hear me rant on a bit about worksheets and workbooks? Read my rant here.
Make a “Finish the Equation” activity – it’s so much more fun than a worksheet…
I set up this activity to give my son a chance to really move and shake with his learning.
Materials:
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- White butcher paper
- Blue painter’s tape (my favorite to use on walls)
- Giant Sharpie marker
- Post-it notes
On my white butcher paper, I wrote several addition sentences BUT I left out an addend in each sentence.
Remember – with addition it’s addend + addend = sum.
In a sense, these are basic algebra sentences with a missing variable but we don’t need to explain all that to a six-year-old.
“Find the missing number to make the math problem true.”
I took the Post-it notes and wrote the addend (number) missing from each sentence.
And to make things really fun I hid them around my living room.
Why not add a scavenger hunt element to Finish the Equation?
Hiding the Post-its in my living room gave a little extra kick of fun for my son.
He played this activity THREE times and also set it up for me TWICE.
That’s a whole lot of play and fun for a simple little activity.
I bet if he’d done the same type of math on a worksheet, he would have done it once. Instead, he played for 20+ minutes and really bonded with the concept of finding a missing variable.
I love activities like this!
It’s no secret that I love activities with hidden Post-it Notes.
If you have some younger siblings, try these with them:
My son had the best time…
And I’m so happy to say that about a math activity! He had fun learning. He had fun playing with me. He had fun getting into the action – so much more than if he’d done this on a worksheet.
When will you make a Finish the Equation activity?
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