By Doreen Minard, First Grade Teacher

Carrie Echeita, Math Intervention Specialist

This week’s activity will help your 5-6 year old build math vocabulary and learn the basics of measuring and estimating while having fun. Remember to talk with your children and ask them questions. Prompt them to ask you questions. Most of their learning, especially vocabulary, will happen during your conversations.

Water, Water Everywhere!

Skills: Measuring, comparing, estimating, counting, math vocabulary, oral language development

You will need:

cup of water

cups/containers that can hold different amounts of water

Activities:

Fill a cup with water and use it to answer the questions. (Great bath-time activity!)

Estimate how many cups it will take to fill a bowl/sink/pot. Check to see how close you are.

Find another container that holds more or less water than your cup.

Predict if it will hold more or less. Check to see how close you are.

Find a container you think will hold 2/3/4 cupfuls of water.

Find a container you think will hold half of the water in your cup.

Choose a small container to catch rainwater outside. Guess how many days you think it will take to fill it up.

Possible questions to stimulate conversation and build vocabulary!

• What makes you think a container will hold more water or less water?

• Does the shape of the container make a difference in how much water it can hold? Why or why not?

• Will a metal container hold more than a plastic container?

• Can an empty container be heavier than a cup of water? Find out!

Be sure to visit Forks Elementary School’s Parent Zone for more math activities!

Next Week: Ideas for 6-7 year olds