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Search Recommended Math Resources
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Use the search filters below to return results. Keep an eye out for some of my top favorites-- my "BookSmart Picks"-- that are sure to entertain and educate your kids! And, many activities use common materials you likely have at home already. Look for entries marked with the "Common Items" icon to find activities that shouldn't require any purchase.
King Derwin of Didd becomes bored and angry with what falls from the sky—fog, rain, snow, and sunshine. He wants something new and exciting to fall from it, so he calls on his magicians to create it! However, neither the king nor the magicians think about the consequences of the new, sticky, green substance called oobleck, which quickly causes a mess of the kingdom. Bartholomew, the king’s clever page, must then step in and save the day…
King Derwin of Didd becomes bored and angry with what falls from the sky—fog, rain, snow, and sunshine. He wants something new and exciting to fall from it, so he calls on his magicians to create it! However, neither the king nor the magicians think about the consequences of the new, sticky, green substance called oobleck, which quickly causes a mess of the kingdom. Bartholomew, the king’s clever page, must then step in and save the day. Dr. Seuss uses his signature style of illustrations, but this time everything is in black and white except for the green oobleck, making it really stand out on each page (and winning the book a Caldecott Honor). Reading this book is a perfect springboard to making your own oobleck and practicing counting and the idea of ratios in the process. The recipe for oobleck is simple: 1 cup of water and 2 cups of cornstarch along with some food coloring if you wish. You can change up the measurements, so long as the ratio remains the same, 1 part water to 2 parts cornstarch. And in this way you can practice counting. If your child is practicing counting to 10, then count out five tablespoons of water and ten tablespoons of cornstarch. And you can even practice doubles facts with your child in this way, once they understand the ratio; if you put six tablespoons of water in, then how many tablespoons of cornstarch will you need?
This book from the founder of Bedtime Math (www.bedtimemath.org) answers math questions covering a multitude of topics. It is quite helpful that the questions are organized by general topics: animals, nature, food, everyday life, Earth and space, and mental math. Some questions answered include: the number of bees needed to make a jar of honey, how fast the fastest growing tree on Earth actually grows…
This book from the founder of Bedtime Math (www.bedtimemath.org) answers math questions covering a multitude of topics. It is quite helpful that the questions are organized by general topics: animals, nature, food, everyday life, Earth and space, and mental math. Some questions answered include: the number of bees needed to make a jar of honey, how fast the fastest growing tree on Earth actually grows, how many gallons of water are needed to put out a fire, and how many soccer balls would fit inside Earth. All of the math is broken down, with explanations for where those numbers came from, so it is all easy to understand. Have your child come up with their own questions and try to answer them (perhaps with some research help from you).
This book filled with polar bears, alligators, lemurs, and other animals introduces the concept of relative size, and can also introduce an understanding of equations. The book begins with its largest animal, the elephant, and explains how many polar bears would be needed to equate to one elephant, then how many lions to make one polar bear, and so on until you reach how many fleas to make one lemur…
This book filled with polar bears, alligators, lemurs, and other animals introduces the concept of relative size, and can also introduce an understanding of equations. The book begins with its largest animal, the elephant, and explains how many polar bears would be needed to equate to one elephant, then how many lions to make one polar bear, and so on until you reach how many fleas to make one lemur. Each number used is highlighted on the page so that it stands out for your child, and since each picture shows the actual number of animals needed, this can also reinforce some basic counting. I especially enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book; on one side the illustration is quite simple, showing the one animal to which it is comparing, while on the opposite side there is a much more involved and humorous illustration with animals dressing up as the animal they are being compared to (a polar bear wears elephant ears and a trunk, lions try to paint themselves white like a polar bear, etc.). At the end of the book, you see that all of the animals together equate to a whale. This is a great book for comparing and relative size, but it can also be used for creating equations with your child, like 7 polar bears = 1 elephant or 4 lions = 1 polar bear. By creating these equations, you can give your child a solid understanding of the equals sign meaning “same as”, which is an important foundation, since so often kids come to understand the equals sign as “and now give the answer”.
In this activity, your child gets a chance to play architect, creating blueprints of your own house or apartment. Doing so, they can practice measurement as well as ratios and scale.
In this activity, your child gets a chance to play architect, creating blueprints of your own house or apartment. Doing so, they can practice measurement as well as ratios and scale. They will record dimensions of walls, windows, and doors and mark their locations. Then, using graph paper, they will draw them to scale.
Make candy mathematical! Mix melted candy of different colors to help your child understand ratios.
Make candy mathematical! Mix melted candy of different colors to help your child understand ratios. Swirled colors will form delicious treats in a mold. Put in popsicle sticks to help you enjoy every bite.
Help your child be active and practice math with this activity. Your child will run or bike a one mile route and later determine how many miles they could complete in one hour. It is a great way to learn about speed and rate.
Help your child be active and practice math with this activity. Your child will run or bike a one mile route and later determine how many miles they could complete in one hour. It is a great way to learn about speed and rate while getting the endorphins up and aiming to set a personal record.
In Robert’s dreams he visits a strange land full of number tricks and hosted by the Number Devil. A multitude of number concepts are explored with the devil as guide, including matrices, number sequences, and exponents. The book incorporates a good bit of humor (i.e. the devil calls irrational numbers “unreasonable”), and the illustrations add to the clarity of concepts…
In Robert’s dreams he visits a strange land full of number tricks and hosted by the Number Devil. A multitude of number concepts are explored with the devil as guide, including matrices, number sequences, and exponents. The book incorporates a good bit of humor (i.e. the devil calls irrational numbers “unreasonable”), and the illustrations add to the clarity of concepts. While the math concepts involved are varied and do not directly support a specific grade level’s standards for mathematics, this would be an interesting book simply to spark interest and engage kids in the world of mathematics.
This book is a great way for your child to think about relative size, as it compares the sizes of animals, from an elephant down to a quark. It invites the reader to imagine themselves as each of these, showing that there is always something smaller, as well as showing the relationship in size between the animals…
This book is a great way for your child to think about relative size, as it compares the sizes of animals, from an elephant down to a quark. It invites the reader to imagine themselves as each of these, showing that there is always something smaller, as well as showing the relationship in size between the animals. The book does start to get a bit more complicated as it delves into paramecia, molecules, and atoms; however, there is a glossary in the back of the book, as well as clear and vivid pictures to accompany the simple text. A project that could be done with this book is making drawings to scale of some of the organisms that are mentioned in the book to show the size relationship between them.
This is a game that I happened upon at a teacher store one summer. It works best with 2 or 4 players and one person reading the answer key. In each round, the players get a case to solve (all the players have the same case). Each player gets one of the four case cards…
This is a game that I happened upon at a teacher store one summer. It works best with 2 or 4 players and one person reading the answer key. In each round, the players get a case to solve (all the players have the same case). Each player gets one of the four case cards (or 2 each if playing with 2 players); on one side the case is stated and on the other side each card has a different alibi. Each player must decide whether the alibi is correct or whether that person is guilty. Players must do this by determining whether the math in the alibi is correct. If the math is incorrect, then that person is guilty. The object is to earn the most points by correctly determining guilt and innocence throughout the game. I have only played the third grade version, but I like how the game covers so much of third grade math, from multi-digit addition and subtraction to fractions to geometry.
This book centers on the Arctic, particularly animals of the Arctic, and covers arithmetic, estimation, and maps and scale…
This book centers on the Arctic, particularly animals of the Arctic, and covers arithmetic, estimation, and maps and scale.
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