Incorporating Math in Everyday Life

Below are some articles on math and young children from our Toddler Topics newsletters. Math is a topic that many adults feel inadequate in teaching to their children. In fact, children acquire math fundamentals through play and everyday activities. These articles will help us to see that enriching children's lives with math activities is something we can easily do. If you work in a childcare setting, you may wish to share these articles with parents. If you contact me, I can send you the 6 issues of Toddler Topics that are available for 2008.

Chores and Math?

Take advantage of these early years to get your child involved in everyday tasks. Not only will you be helping to create lifelong habits but you will also be helping to develop skills that will be used as your child begins to read and even do math! Chores that involve sorting are one great example. Ask your children to sort your silverware or to set the table. Involve your child when doing the laundry. They can sort lights and darks before washing and sort towels from clothing after the washing is done. Matching socks will help children to pick out similarities and group like objects. This ability to match items one to one is a very important pre-math skill. Counting objects provides the child with a concrete experience with numbers. Think of things you can count at home. Start with napkins at the table, shoes in the closet, members in the family, books on the shelf and make a game of finding things to count. So the next time it’s “clean up time” know that while the toys are being put away, your child is practicing lots of great pre-math skills. So make it fun by encouraging and praising their efforts.

Talking Math with My TODDLER???

It’s amazing how many adults have negative feelings about math. The thought of teaching our children about math may seem foreign or even frightening. Try and put your own experiences behind you and let your child take the lead. Children are naturally curious and ask all sorts of questions. Be there and ready to answer them, adding your own questions to enrich their experience when you can. Ask thoughtful questions such as “What else can you find that is like this?” or “ What if…?” Take time to stop and collect things when you are out on a walk. Seashells, fall leaves and rocks, can be sorted, counted and manipulated, giving numbers a concrete meaning. Sort snacks. Toasted O’s cereals, small crackers and pretzels can be sorted and counted. Sharing snacks by counting and dividing takes this activity one step further. As your child grows you can encourage them to solve simple word problems that come across in everyday life. “How many steps does it take to walk from the table to the door? From the door to the chair? Write it down and let’s figure out how many steps further away the door is from the chair than from the table.” Math is all around us, let’s enjoy it together!

Math and Meals

There are lots of math opportunities around mealtimes. Measuring, counting, adding, timing and following a recipe all build math concepts. Serving, portioning and dividing food among family and friends is another way to include some “math talk.” You can cut sandwiches and other foods into shapes that your child can identify and count. Create place mats showing place settings so your child can match and set the table. Include your child in meal planning and shopping. You can create a shopping list just for them by cutting pictures from coupons and circulars. They can then look for these items in the store, match them to the picture and add them to the cart. Allow your child to pick out a certain number of items, such as 6 carrot sticks, 2 cookies, 10 blueberries, during meals or snacks.

Math on the Road

No need to turn that DVD on for your child to learn math on your next road trip! There are plenty of math experiences to enjoy together when you simply look out the window. Count cars and trucks by color or type. Count stop signs, green lights, trees, whatever you choose. Sing songs and play games such as “I Spy.” Give your child a clip board with paper and a crayon so they can draw their own “map” as you drive. Look at a map together before and after your trip. Time how long it takes and how far you have gone. Count the gallons at the gas pump. Talk about your longest and shortest trips and which way has the most cars, trees or buildings. Before you know it, you will be at your destination!

Music and Math??

Did you know that musical experiences help to prepare your child for math? They do! Music seems to be a perfect jump-start because of the way our brains are organized. Watching your child you will probably soon agree with neuroscientists and psychologists who believe this intellectual response to music is inborn. Babies and children love to bounce, dance, move and sing to music. What does this mean for parents who want the best for their children? Be sure to provide your child with lots of musical experiences where they can explore music on their own. It is important that we remember that these experiences need to be fun and appropriate for the age of our child and should not be overly formal or regimented. It is also not necessary to purchase special tapes or videos. Allow your child to experience all types of music, beginning with the style you enjoy. Talk about similarities and differences in the music that you listen to. This helps children to learn to sort and classify. Let your child see you enjoying music on the radio, on cds and at live performances. Experiences providing a steady beat are an important way for children to make connections between their brain and their bodies. Songs are a great way to build memorization skills. Including movements in a sequence such as in the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, adds further to the child’s skill set as they are actually arranging patterns, another pre-math skill! So go ahead, clap with the music, stomp your feet, dance. Keep beat with the music and encourage your child to join you! Now you know that in addition to the fun, your child is truly growing an important set of skills.

Creating an organized environment

Creating a classroom that is organized creates a sense of calm for both children and adults. Look at these classroom settings. Don't they just look ready for hands-on learning and exploration?

Visiting other childcare settings is a great way to gain ideas to adopt into your own classroom environment.

Look at the slop sink that has been placed at a child's level. Makes cleaning up easy! These are widely available at home centers and are not very expensive. Great idea!


This cardboard barrel makes a perfect cozy nook for one. Children need a place to "get away from it all." This is one creative way to find a place where a child can read or just simply snuggle away from the busy-ness of a classroom.

Cell Phones

Are cell phones creating problems in your childcare center? Perhaps you want to consider banning them. Too often parents are distracted from their children at pick up and drop off times because they are on their cell phone. Unfortunately some staff may also misuse their cell phones and take time away from the children. We have a laminated sign you can post plus a letter to share with parents to tell them about your "NO CELL PHONE" policy. Send me an email with your center address and I will send one to you.

Creating Balance in Your Life

Just what is a balanced life? We can divide our lives into four areas, physical needs, emotional/spiritual needs, intellectual needs and relationships. Achieving balance means that we are feeling a sense of fulfillment in each of these areas. What that balance is varies from person to person. For many of us it may seem like we could spend the rest of our lives trying to achieving balance and still not get there. Perhaps this is because we are expecting too much when we think of a balanced life.

It is important to understand that a balanced life does not mean that we are going to achieve balance each day. There are too many things impacting us for that to happen. Unknowns creep in and just when we think we have it all together, something unexpected happens. There are some steps that we can take to make sure that in general our needs in each area of our lives are being met and thus creating a sense of balance for us. Having a feeling of control over most areas of our life makes us better able to handle those things that we have no control over.

Begin by setting goals, both short-term and long-term. Knowing what it is you want out of life will make it easier to move to the next step of setting priorities. Remember, you do not have to do everything. Choose instead to do the things that are right for you. If you have set your goals and priorities you will know better what those right things are. Set some personal rules for you and your family. Perhaps you will make it a point to only work late two nights a week, or only allow outside commitments to take up a certain number of days. Another family may decide that, no matter what, “we always have family dinner on Sundays.” Once you have established your rules, stick to them. The busier we are, the more important it is for us to take the time to plan our lives. As you look at your calendar and plan your time, be sure to set aside time just for you.

Just as farmers choose to leave fields fallow, we need to find time in our lives to just relax and rest. Finding time to rest and do something that we find relaxing allows us to recharge our bodies and our enthusiasm. As we work to gain balance within our own lives, it is important that we look beyond our own personal interests. Finding ways to help meet the needs of others is actually very rewarding and can contribute to our own sense of well-being and balance.

Achieving balance is a process of continual adjustments. Our bodies let us know when we need to stop and re-think what it is we are doing. It is important that we listen to the signals and take time to readjust what we are doing when our lives begin to tilt too far in any one direction.