Math Fun

Make math fun for your child

When your child is presented with math schoolwork, he probably doesn't realize how fun math can be. A common complaint among many students is, “When am I ever going to use this?” You can show your child that math is not only useful in everyday life, but also that the tasks that require regular math are actually fun.

Baking a cake or cookies with your child illustrates the value of mathematics and provides a sweet incentive once all the work has been completed. If you're baking cookies, double the recipe and ask your child to do the math for it. If the original recipe calls for 3/4 of a cup of flour, what is it when doubled? Your child will learn fractions without even realizing it.

You can also play all sorts of games that require math. Play Monopoly together and have your child be in charge of the bank. He will have to distribute funds and sell the fictional real estate, learning again the basics in math fun.

Card games like 21 and Gin Rummy also teach your child how to tally numbers. These games are fun, easy and require less time to set up than regular board games like Monopoly. For younger children, any child's board game will teach counting. To think of other math fun activities, consider throughout your day how often you use math and introduce those activities to your child. You can ask him to count the steps to your house, how many minutes it takes to prepare dinner and then how many minutes it takes to eat dinner. Making math fun is a great way to get your child excited about his schoolwork while teaching him valuable math principles.

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