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Math Problems Are Fun When You Solve Them Outside of School!

In the News

Grades K-2

What you'll need

Newspaper, scissors, pencil or crayon, glue, and graph paper

What to do

1. Newspaper numbers. Help your child look for numbers 1 to 100 in the newspaper. Cut the numbers out and glue them in numerical order onto a large piece of paper. For children who cannot count to 100 or recognize numbers that large, only collect up to the number they do know. Have your child say the numbers to you and practice counting up to that number.

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2. Collect only numbers within a certain range, like the numbers between 20 and 30. Arrange the numbers on a chart, grouping all the numbers with 2s in them, all the numbers with 5s, and so on.


3. Counting book. Cut out pictures from the newspaper and use them to make a counting book. Page 1 will have one thing on it, page 2 will have 2 things that are alike, page 3 will have 3 things that are alike, and so on. All the things on the each page have to be the same. At the bottom of each page, write the number of items on the page and the word for the item. Have your child tell you a story about what is on the page.

Parent Pointer
	This newspaper activity helps children read and understand numbers and charts.

Newspaper Search

Grades 3-5

What you'll need

Newspaper, calculator, pencil, paper, and graph paper (can be hand-drawn)

What to do

1. List it. Give your child the grocery section of the newspaper in order to make up a list of foods that will feed the family for a week and also meet a budget of a certain amount of money. Have your child make a chart and use mental math or a calculator to figure the cost of a few items. If the total for the groceries is more than you have budgeted for, talk about which items can be eliminated. Could the list be cut down by a few items or by buying less of another item? What will best serve the needs of the family?


2. Shop around. Have your child search for advertisements in the newspaper for an item they have been wanting, such as a piece of clothing or tennis shoes, in order to find the lowest price for the item. After your child finds the best buy, have him or her compare the best buy to the rest of the advertised prices. Are this store's prices lower for everything or just items in demand?
   


3. Highs and lows. Have your child search the newspaper for daily temperatures and create a graph showing weekly trends. Ask your child for the differences in temperature from day to day.

Parent Pointer
	This activity helps children see how much math is used in everyday life. It also helps in the variety of ways in which math is used to tell a story, read a timetable or schedule, plan a shopping list, or study the weather.

Treasure Hunt

Grades K-2

What you'll need

Large container, buttons, screws, bottle caps, old keys, anything else you can count, and graph paper (can be hand-drawn)

What to do

1. Find a container to hold the treasures.


2. Sort and classify the treasures. For example, do you have all the same-sized screws or keys? How are they alike? How are they different?
   


3. Use these treasures to tell addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division stories. For example, if we share 17 buttons among 3 friends, how many will we each get? Will there be some left over? Or if we have 3 shirts that need 6 buttons each, do we have enough buttons?


4. For older children, you can organize the treasures by one characteristic and lay them end to end. Compare and contrast the different amounts of that type of treasure. For example, there are 3 short screws, 7 long screws, and 11 medium screws. There are 4 more medium screws than long ones. Make a simple graph showing how many of each type of screw there are. This activity may also provide an opportunity to talk about fractions: 7/21 or 1/3 of the screws are long.

Parent Pointer
	Organizing the "treasures" in one's house provides practice in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Children can also graph data on shapes and sizes.