Studies find that the more positive and confident a child feels about a school subject, the greater success they’ll have. Just in time, summer is a perfect opportunity for kids to discover that math is FUN. Read on for ideas and tips for making real-life connections and experiencing math in action.
Summer learning activities to make math fun
How are you influencing the way your kids see math?
Here are some simple DOs & DON’Ts:
Be a positive influence in your kids’ math confidence
Do:
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Point out the many everyday ways we use math (e.g., measuring for recipes, paying a bill, calculating tip)
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Activities together that require using math, such as cooking or shopping.
Don't:
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Talk about math as easy or hard
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Say “I don’t like math” or “I’ve always been bad at math” because kids may take this to mean that math skills are inheritable.
Look for fun ways to apply math to real life
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Focus on the math that kids use every day! Explore one or two math topics per week throughout the summer. Watch these BrainPOP movies to see how math applies everywhere, from learning to tell time to estimating a budget and much more!
Nature is bursting with math and summer is a great time to discover its many forms! You may want to watch the BrainPOP movie Fibonacci Sequence to find out how and why this sequence shows up in nature.
Then take a walk outside to see for yourself the many epic examples of math in all its natural glory. Keep a list or take pictures of what you find along the way:
Uncover math all around in nature
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Symmetry in butterflies, leaves, and spiderwebs
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Fibonacci sequence in flowers, such as a sunflower
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Shape of honeycombs (according to mathematicians, a honeycomb’s shape offers the perfect balance of strength and space required for honey storage)
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Patterns in rainbows, markings on animals’ coats, ripples in a pond.
Play math learning games throughout summer
Put your math smarts to the test by playing BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. math games. Here are some of our favorites:
Calling all cooks! From measuring to timing, math is a main ingredient for cooking! Find a recipe to try, and let your kid do the calculating. For example, if you are doubling a recipe, encourage your child to figure out which operation to use and calculate the amount you need of each ingredient. Brush up on measuring skills with the following BrainPOP topics!
Incorporate math in the kitchen
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