Your Guide To Making Math Easy & Fun For Kids

Start With Counting

Learning math begins with basic counting. You can start teaching your little one how to count as soon as they turn one.

To do this, you can use anything in your surroundings at home. Turn this into a game and count all the different toys your child has. Start with the basics from numbers 1-5 and move up to 10 and gradually do more as they get older.

Incorporating Math With Your Daily Routine

Take advantage of daily routines and experiences for math-based activities.

Here are some ideas and examples:

• “Can you please tell me what time is on the clock right now?"
  • You can do this by asking your kids to point and identify the numbers that they see. You can also use a toy clock to teach them how to tell the time.
• Point out numbers
  • There are numbers everywhere: on houses, on elevators, on sports jerseys, on buses, price tags, numbers are everywhere.

Use Pictures And Flashcards

Pictures and flashcards are helpful tools when teaching children math concepts, from identifying numbers, addition, subtraction and more.

Some ideas you can use to encourage fun play with flashcards are by turning it into a game, shuffling cards out of order or matching pictures to numbers.

Here are some of our picks:

• Flashkids Flashcards Numbers
• Addition Flashcards
• Hinkler Junior Explorers Number Flashcards

Cooking And Baking

Another great way to bond with your kids and to encourage their logical thinking skills with numbers is through baking and cooking.

Let your child become familiar with measuring in recipes and the different types of measurements for the older ones (milligram, gram, liter).

Here are some ideas on where to get kid-friendly kitchenware:

• Shanghai Street Kitchenware In Hong Kong
• Ikea

Use Imaginative Play

A great chance to role-play and act out real-life situations such as setting up a bank, a store, a coffee shop, or a restaurant. You can use play money for transactions.

Here are our picks for toys you can use for imaginative play:

• My Super Story Smart Cash Register
• Tender Play Pay Pack

Board Games And Card Games

Learning about math doesn’t have to be a boring experience. Math games are a simple and fun way to help kids learn how to solve math problems while they’re having fun. Games like Yahtzee, Baffle, and Dominoes all use the process of addition. Whereas games like Monopoly are great for learning about money and property in a fun way in a large group.

Other games that can also help our kids with their math thinking skills are Sudoku and Tangrams.

Where to buy and enjoy math board games and card games in Hong Kong:

• Where To Buy Board Games In Hong Kong
• Top Board Game Cafés In Hong Kong
• Bookazine

Learning Fractions

Turn pizza nights into a fun math night! Cut pizza slices into equal pieces. Point out 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc. You can help establish the concept that 1/4 of a slice of pizza is smaller than 1/2 of a piece. You can also apply this concept to cake, bread, chocolate, and more.

Here are our picks:

• Leapfrog Build-A-Slice Pizza Cart
• Hape Perfect Pizza Playset

Books About Math

Set aside time every week to read a math story rather than a traditional story. There are interesting stories that both engage the reader and provoke mathematical thinking. You can ask questions about counting, comparing, finding totals and differences, looking at patterns or shapes, etc.

Here are our picks:

• Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse To Stay Up Late by Laura Overdeck
• The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
• Earn It by Cinders McLeod

Make Use Of Technology

Technology has revolutionized the way we learn and teach. Several math-related apps, websites, and programs can make math more interactive and engaging for students.

Math-related apps:

• Dragonbox Math
• MentalUP

Programs that you can stream and watch on TV or on your tablet:

• Numberblocks
• Peg + Cat
• Monster Math Squad