I am a WORDS person. Grammar (oh those diagrams), literature and writing are my fun things.Math, well, I grew up not having any confidence in the subject. It didn’t make any sense to me and I never felt I was good at it.
When it came to homeschooling I knew I had to deal with math. I use Saxon Math (for my review click here) and have enjoyed seeing my girls have fun learning math.They don’t just do math during our math lessons, with these fun manipulatives, they enjoy doing math all day long!
We use scales to help the girls understand measurement and weights. They enjoy filling the containers with a variety of things like cotton balls and hair pins.The buckets are removable.
This is the one things that is ALWAYS missing, rulers. The girls love using the rulers to create pictures.
We have several types of learning clocks. The one on the left is laminated paper the girls can actually write on (which they love to do). I like the one on the right as well because it actually can stand up on a table.
Velcro Dots. These dots keep my toddler busy for a long time. She loves putting them on and then tearing them off. They come in mixed colors are are a great way to teach about colors and patterns.
So I think these Teddy Bear Counters are by far the girl’s favorite thing to play with. They come in four different colors and two sizes (big and little). They love to create stories using their counters. I love the fact that they come nicely contained in this big plastic tub, it makes cleanup easy.
Like the teddy bears, these Pattern Blocks really spark the girl’s imagination. They come in all types of shapes (rectangles, squares, triangles, hexagon, and diamonds). They also are very easy to clean up.
This is a must have, the 100 Number Chart. One side has the numbers and the other empty spaces so they can practice writing on their own.
Construction paper and Tissue paper. As you can see I use it to make shapes the girls can use and the have a lot of fun making all kinds of interesting, refrigerator worthy pieces.
Ok, who doesn’t love Dominos! You can stack them, line them up and knock them down, and of course you can use them to practice counting.
This year we really have been working a lot more with money and in addition to real money, I got a money tray. One of their favorite games is playing restaurant. This keeps them busy for quite some time and also gives them a lot of practice adding and subtracting.
Popsicle sticks. I like the jumbo colored sticks and use them in a variety of ways–teaching colors and shapes. We also play balancing races with them as well. So much fun trying to walk steady with a stick on your nose!
Fractions. I am so not a fan of fractions, but these fun fraction toys will make you want to learn fractions. If you are teaching fractions you have to get this!
3D shapes. I really like these shapes because the girls can truly get the feel for the shape’s dimensions. They are compact in size and come with a bag.
I bought most of my manipulatives at Lakeshore Learning store. Oh my, it is a magically dangerous place (for your wallet that is).
I hope this list gives you some fun math ideas. What do you use to help make learning math fun?
Stay Encouraged & Be Blessed!
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