Recommended Age: 3.5y+
Level of Parent Involvement: Medium – may need to help with the counting
Prerequisites
- Can count loose objects accurately
Materials
- Blocks (Use larger blocks to start off with. Once you have established the child’s counting ability, you can change the size of the blocks accordingly.)
Steps
- Start to lay out a row of blocks on the floor, invite the child to help you. When the row of blocks is quite long, lie down on the floor next to it.
- Ask the child if your body is longer or shorter than the row of blocks. Explain to the child that you want to make the row of blocks is the same length as your body. If the row of blocks is longer than your body, ask the child to remove some of the blocks. If the row is shorter than your body, ask the child to add more blocks.
- When the row of blocks is the same length as your body, you can get up.
- Tell the child that you are going to count how many blocks are in the row to see how long your body was. Starting from the left–hand side, invite the child to help you to count the blocks in the row. When you have finished counting, say to the child “My body is __ blocks long”. Put the blocks back in their container.
- Invite the child to make a row of blocks to measure how long his body is.
- Explain to the child that when he lies next to the blocks, he will be able to see if the row is longer or shorter than his body. Invite the child to remove or add blocks to the row until it is the same length as his body.
- Ask the child how many blocks are in his row. If necessary, help him to count the blocks. Say to the child, “Your body is __ blocks long”.
- Invite the child to put the blocks back in their container and choose something else to measure.
Variations
- The child can measure the length of other family members, parts of his body (e.g. leg, foot, arm, etc.), pieces of furniture, or other objects, in the house.
- If the child can write numbers, he can draw pictures of what he is measuring, write the number of blocks next to his pictures and staple his papers together to make a book.
- Use smaller blocks to extend the child’s counting skills.
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