Learning Math Facts Without the Worksheets

One thing that my oldest is working on a lot this year is learning math facts.

He’s in second grade and this has been a big focus for his class all year long. And from talking to his teachers, its a struggle for many of the kids to do it fast. Apparently, the goal is to know the answer to each of the math facts in under three seconds. Three seconds!

While my kids don’t get sent home homework from our school (which I’m super proud of), I, as the parent, still want to make sure he’s successful in school. Some math facts practicing is in order!

But who wants to sit at a desk and do worksheets and time themselves?

Let’s make learning math facts super fun, without any worksheets at all!

After school is usually the only time I can work activities into our schedule with Henry (see the times I try to squeeze in activities). When Henry gets home from school, he always wants his after school snack as we go through his bag. Lately, I hate to admit it, its been all candy (with Valentine’s Day and Easter… it seems we can’t get rid of it).

We need to get back into healthier snack options. I’m proud to be partnering with Dole on their Share the Sunshine Campaign. We always have Dole Fruit Cups with 100% juice on hand, always pears and mandarin oranges, and occasionally peaches. I need to take advantage of those and use them for this snack time!

While he snacks, it’s the perfect time for me to set up our math facts activity to practice!

I’m also super excited about these Dole Fruitocracy pouches with all natural, non-GMO fruits and vegetables. Dole Packaged Foods like this make it super easy and convenient to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our snacks and meals (which we definitely need). They’ll be super handy for the car!

Dole is committed to bringing more sunshine into our lives. Which means that all their products can be traced back to the sunshine. Back to where the fruits and vegetables come from, growing in the sun itself. They’re committed to sourcing high quality, GMO-free fruits and vegetables, and even packing them healthier. Find more information about Dole and Share the Sunshine here.

By the way, I’ll be searching for healthy kid recipes this week and will share them on @dolesunshine’s #SharetheSunshine Pinterest board.

As far as sunshine in learning math facts… back to the roots, right? Help them out at home and make it super fun.

Here’s some super fun ways for learning math facts at home, without the worksheets…

Run through an indoor obstacle course while practicing addition facts. Break the rules a little by letting the kids crawl on the dining room table. That’s a memorable learning experience!

Grab some cards and play a game of addition Pyramid. This game from Math Geek Mama can be played with one or more players and is super simple to set up.

Step up to the plate with math facts baseball. Frugal Fun for Boys’ homemade game has little baseball fans practicing their math as they run the bases.

Dodge through a string obstacle course to explore number bonds. Kids step through the string, grabbing cards that match up to their math facts.

Hammer home addition facts on a pumpkin. Just One Mommy has the kids pounding nails into numbers written on a pumpkin as math fact practice.

Turn a homemade pompom drop into a visual math equation. Use pompoms or cotton balls to create a visual math equation on the wall!

Use a sensory bag for a game of I-Spy the math facts. Kids love sensory bags, and this is a fun way to practice addition and subtraction!

Playdough to Plato put together a simple math fact match up game the kids can play. Just a few simple items and the game is ready to go.

Knock down number pins during a homemade bowling game. Love this easy idea from Education.com! Kids can choose to work on addition or subtraction skills with it.

Sort the subtraction fact mail. No Time for Flash Cards has the kids delivering math fact mail to the correct number mailboxes. This could be done with one or more kids and turned into a race, too.

Customize a Jenga game all about math facts like The First Grade Parade. Before a game piece can be removed, kids have to solve a math equation!

Which activity will you use first for learning math facts?

Follow @dolesunshine’s #SharetheSunshine Pinterest board, where I’ll be sharing healthy kid recipes this week! Look out for those pins from me!

Learning Math Facts Without the Worksheets on handsonaswegrow.com

from Hands On As We Grow http://ift.tt/1Mrlf9z