Seven Simple Ways to Mix-up your Math Routine

Every subject deserves some creativity from time to time, and that includes math! We use Christian Light Education for math, but we like to mix-it-up to keep things interesting. Here are 7 simple ways to change up your math routine at any level.

1. Play-Doh isn't just for preschoolers. Whether your kiddos are just learning numbers or memorizing multiplication, you can use modeling dough to your advantage. Have the kids form their equations out of Play-doh. From 1-2-3's, to long division, you'd be surprised how changing up the practice from paper to dough can bring a smile to their face.

2. Grocery Cart Math. This slim volume from Jayne Hansen at Christianbook.com is affordable and a fantastic resource to supplement your child's math curriculum. Your child will learn how to compare brand prices, weight measurements and more. A cereal box is a rectangular prism, an orange is a sphere, a can of corn is a cylinder and more. Find it here: Grocery Cart Math

3. Change up your math manipulatives. The same old math facts, while important, can get monotonous. Change up what you're using for hands-on manipulatives. Old keys, beans, toothpicks, colored paperclips, poker chips, pennies, buttons, beads.... we have small boxes stacked up with all of these things on a shelf for days when we just need to change up the same old problems to perk interest. Unlocking Math Moments.

4. Math Games. Monopoly, Pizza Fractions, Dominoes, Multiplication Bingo, etc. etc. There are endless board games and online math games you can choose from. Find a favorite, and use it as a reward to motivate their lessons or as an icebreaker for the morning math lessons.

5. Don't be afraid to make visuals. Do whatever it takes to bring the concept off the page! Here are two popular posts of mine, with the Crocodile Rule, and Popsicle Place Values.

6. Borrow ideas! Check Pinterest and homeschool blogs every so often for more creative ways to bring math to life. The ideas that are out there are amazing! Here is the flower clock we built in my daughter's room to help her learn time, thanks to the sharing of great minds on Pinterest.

7. Math in everyday life. Since we have backyard chickens, we use eggs in our math often. The kids love collecting, counting and adding up our eggs. They work with how many makes 1 dozen, 2 dozen, 3 dozen, etc. They get great practice in how many left are needed, as well as counting in sets of 3's, 6's and so forth. Chickens sure do come in handy with homeschooling!

What are your favorite ways to mix-up the math routine? Add them up in the comments!

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." -Psalm 90:12

Unlocking Math Moments

I'm often asked how I meet the needs of my kids during the school day when they are at different levels/grades. There is a kind of art to it, and it's not always smooth and easy. But there are several ways you can incorporate the same activity for various skill sets. For instance, this morning, we were using a box of keys for our math manipulatives. After we completed our lesson, I had the kids use the keys for extras. My preschool son simply counted the keys and matched the number of keys to little number cards. Perfect practice for his age! My first grader solved simple addition equations by filling in the blank with the number of keys needed to meet the solution. Don't you just love fun ways to unlock problems?

Math Modeling Dough

Along with following the recipe solo from their math activity book, the kids had a blast measuring and making their own modeling dough. It was very pizza-doughy and, unlike the pottery and clay we normally work with, the consistency of this continued to change as they worked with it. My daughter was especially into it--she went into full-on artistic mode and practically stood on the table during her self-discovering method of working the dough. We even shaped out numbers to do our equation practice for the day. It made for a fun morning!

Remember the crocodile rule? Greater than, Less than

Learning "greater than" and "less than" was never more fun! I threw together this quick, cute little game for my daughter in math, to remember and practice her greater/less symbols. I remember in school learning the trick that the hungry crocodile was always trying to eat the larger number, so you think of the symbol as his mouth. I turned this to real-life fun when I turned this construction paper equal sign into a quick crocodile. His teeth and eye have to go toward the center, so he can be moved to eat whichever side the larger number is at. My kids love it! Simple and fun!

Place Values: Tens and Ones with Craft Sticks!

This super simple math activity from Everyday Mathematics was the game that finally got the concept of place values to "click" for my five-year-old.

Bundle up some craft sticks in groups of 10 (I did 3 bundles) and leave 9 sticks loose. Make up some quick number cards or tags and mix into a pile to pick from, then have them display the chosen number with the sticks, through place values- the first number being how many tens they need, the second number how many ones.



Hooray for hands-on ideas, and for seeing the "Aha!" light trigger on. She was a pro after just a few minutes, when prior to this, explaining place values on paper was getting us nowhere. Even using the manipulatives before in a similar way with toothpicks, shells, etc. wasn't keeping her interest. Once it was a game, where she got to pick the number and make it, that was just enough element of fun to make it work.

What games or activities have given you success in math concepts? Share, please!

Shapes and Signs

My daughter knows that a stop sign is an octagon. But to help her identify the difference between an octagon and other shapes, we made a variety of stop signs, some correct and some incorrect shapes, including tricky ones like a hexagon, which is ALMOST a stop sign. It gets her thinking mathematically in an everyday way, and also helps her to learn and identify other traffic signs and signals and their meanings. The library has some great books on this (try Signs in our World) and a short walk in any town or city is a fun way to apply what you're learning. My younger son (who loves construction and trucks) is loving these lessons as well.


Counting the sides: the kids made STOP signs that were circles, hexagons, pentagons and the correct octagon shape. Working it into a hands-on craft for their toy cars took it off the page and into a concrete lesson. Identifying what is not an octagon was just as valuable as learning what one is. I like the reminder that sometimes, with anything, the way to approach learning the correct way is through examples of the incorrect.

"Shoots" & Ladders and other math games

For our formal math curriculum, we use Sunrise Math from Christian Light Education and LOVE it! But we incorporate lots of fun supplements and math games too. This week while playing our Sesame Street version of Chutes & Ladders, my kindergartner made the adorable comment that it was strange they called it Shoots & Ladders, because there weren't any guns in it. :D I explained the different spelling and, without us having a laundry chute, it wasn't easy giving an example. She simplified it by deciding we'll call it Slides & Ladders, which I concur makes it a lot more sensible and modern.

Here are just a few of our favorite free math sites where you can download worksheets, lesson plans, math games and activities.
KidZone free math printables
Math games
Math Worksheet Generator
Math in an everyday way: this site has simple ideas for incorporating math in your everyday life, at home, the grocery store, on the go and for the fun of it.
Also, sesamestreet.org has a ton of great counting games your toddler and preschooler will love!