Examples of Math at Home

People share lovely ideas about how families can be doing interesting, engaging math at home. Here are some examples, with commentary about ways to extend or alter them for children of different ages.

October 9, 2020 (Math for the Neighborhood)

When we say “math for the neighborhood” we are thinking of something Math with Me MN calls “Public Math.” They are encouraging people to create and share friendly, approachable activities, in their homes and communities; activities “designed to connect people to each other and to mathematics” and “to reignite joy and play in (distance) learning, and to maximize student agency.” Examples we’ve seen below; lots more of examples @MathWithMeMN. Also, #MathWalk, #SidewalkMath, #PublicMath

August 14, 2020

Before and After. This game helps children practice what number comes before or after another number – or what’s one more (or less) than a number. You can write the number instead of rolling a die. Older children can practice what’s 10 or 100 more or less than a number.

Meal Prep. So many ways to work math into getting ready for meals, making meals, and cleaning up! (Thanks to DREME and Family Math.)

Driveway Math. What math do you see? Can you make your own?

Garbage. A great game for 2-4 players, using a deck of cards.  

July 17, 2020 (Math & Art)

This week we’re sharing posts that connect art and mathematics. We hope you find some inspiration in these Tweets!

June 26, 2020

Counting Books Looking for readalouds? Check out this library, with titles that explore numbers to 10, 20, and 100 and beyond, as well as ideas like 0 and counting by groups.

How Many? What can you count? How many do you see? How do you know?

Dominoes What math questions do you see? Here are some: How many tiles? How do you know? … How many dots? How do you know?

The Horse Problem Good for young and old alike. How did you think about it? How would you convince someone else your thinking makes sense? Acting it out can be a helpful strategy!

How Many? What can you count? How many do you see? How do you know?

4 Bags, 15 Pennies How many ways can you put 15 pennies into 4 bags?

Homemade Curling Create a curling board? court? Practice curling and addition!

June 19, 2020

Math with Water Balloons So many ways to think about this activity! Label water balloons with numbers, kids run to put them in order. Label water balloons with facts, kids run to put them on their sum/difference/product/quotient. What other games can you create?

Would You Get Rich? If you offer to do a chore for 1¢ on day 1, 2¢ on day 2, 4¢ on day 3, 8¢ on day 4…how much would you make in a week? 2 weeks? One month?

Fraction Talks with Legos If the green Lego is one, how much is the brown? See the @up_teach timeline for many “remixes” of this image. Have Legos at home? Make your own!

Toss and Add Make targets with different amounts. Toss small objects. Add your points. How else could you play?

Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe Learn to play Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe.

Fraction Splat If the total amount is 7, how can you figure out how much is under the “splat”?

June 12, 2020 (How Many? Images)

How Many? How many pencils? How many erasers? How do you know?

How many? How many squares? … How many squares are outlined with color? How many squares aren’t totally outlined in color? … How many squares are outlined using one color? two colors? 3 colors? … What else can you count? … And, always, how do you know?

How Many? How many muffins? How many empty spots? How many muffins could you make? How do you know?

How Many? Can you find squares in the image? How many?

June 5, 2020 (Geometry)

2-D and 3-D Shapes What can you find, draw, or build at home? What’s the same about 2-d and 3-d shapes? What’s different?

Cutting Sidewalks How many pieces can you make if you cut a rectangle with one line? with 2? with 3?

Sidewalk Math Make a design and then ask some questions about it! See sample questions at YouCubed.org.

Toothpicking Do you have a box of toothpicks? Use them to tackle this challenge from Marilyn Burns.

Sidewalk Math Have tape and sidewalk chalk? (Or, paper, a marker, and crayons?) Try this sidewalk math challenge.

May 29, 2020

An Array Hunt What arrays can you find? How many rows? How many columns? How many total?

Shut the Box Practice addition combinations and think about strategy. Directions here.

Angles in Your Name What kinds of angles can you find in your name?

Measuring with Feet Measure something with your feet. How many feet is it? What if your younger sibling measures the same thing with their feet? What if an adult measures the same thing with their feet? Will their results be bigger, smaller, or the same? Why do you think so?

Multiplication War Do you know the card game War? Here’s a version that focuses on multiplication, and has a strategic twist!

Four 4’s The challenge: use four 4’s and any of the operations to make all of the numbers from 0-20. For example (4+4) – (4+4) = 0.

May 22, 2020

Describing a Cube Can you find examples of a cube at home? How would you describe them? How many faces? How many vertices?

A Venn Diagram Puzzle Can you find a number that fits each region in the diagram? Challenge: Make a Venn Diagram puzzle for someone else to solve!

Sopa de Números What equations can you find? (Also, the Chapman #MathPlay Activity Series releases a new video for families every Friday at noon.)

Roller Derby Practice sums, and think about strategy (probability)! Directions here.

May 15, 2020

Math & Motion Do some math while getting some exercise!

Comparing Nonstandard Units Find different objects you can use to measure length. Compare how many of each it takes to measure the same length. Which results in the largest measurement? the shortest? Why do you think that is?

Fractions of Squares Do you see 1/4 in the image? Can you see 1/4 another way? How would that change if the teal and yellow sections together equal 1? Additional images and challenges: image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5. (Inspired by Traci Jackson’s Math Walks and Nat Banting’s Fraction Talks.)

Race to Fill. Roll, add, and put a [grape] in the answer. For older kids: roll, add, and multiply by 7. Race to fill all the sections.

How Many Legs? Given a number of legs, how many people are there? How many animals with 4 legs? What if there are a combination of people and 4-legged animals? What if ther’s a mix of 2- and 6- and 8-legged creatures?

A Problem about Money A problem from Marilyn Burns. Open the thread for further challenges!

May 8, 2020

Show Multiplication What can you find to show multiplication? You can use groups, an array, or an area model. How does it show multiplication?

Make a Number Search Roll a die to generate numbers. Write the numbers in an empty grid. Then, circle the cominations of [10]. Remember, you can make 10 with more than 2 numbers!

Fraction Equivalents How many different ways could you make 3/4 cup with the measuring cups shown? 3/8? 5/8?

Math & Motion Do some math while getting some exercise!

Strike It Out In this game, Player 1 chooses two numbers to cross out on the numberline and then finds and circles the sum or difference of those two numbers. Player 2 crosses out that circled number, chooses another to cross out, and circles the sum or difference. The winner? The player who prevents their opponent from being able to take a turn. (Directions, from @nrichmaths.)

May 1, 2020

A Counting Book Can you find 1, 2, 3…10 of something at home? Make a counting book about what you find.

Make an Equation Can you put symbols between the numbers so that the equation equals 100? Is there more than one way? (See more ideas at Math Walks.)

Race for 20 A demonstration of Race for 20, a Marilyn Burns game. (See a blog about it, and variations of it, here.)

Socks More math with the laundry. How many socks? How many pairs can we make? Then, make pairs of matching socks. How many pairs did we make? How many leftovers?

Race for 10 A demonstration of Race for 10, an adaptation of Race for 20, a game from Marilyn Burns. (See her blog about it here.)

An Array Hunt Outside Look for arrays in your neighborhood. What can you find? For each, think about how many rows? How many columns? How many in all?

Running the Facts Write a set of “facts” — e.g., “the doubles” in this example — without the answers, on paper. Children figure out the answers — and decide where to write them on the sidewalk or driveway. (If inside, they can make another set of cards with the answers, and place those around the space they’ll be playing in.) To play, flip a card with a fact and run to place it on the answer. Repeat until all the cards are placed. At the end, double check that the cards are correctly placed. Try to improve your time.

April 24, 2020

An Array Hunt Look for arrays at home. What can you find? For each one you find, think about how many rows? How many columns? How many items in all?

Sidewalk Geometry Make an outline using one color chalk or tape. Color the shapes. Challenge: Challenge kids to design the outline. Can you make one that only uses [triangles]?

Complete a Street Maze Draw the maze pictured below – on a driveway, a sidewalk, or a piece of paper. Then, follow the directions and see if you can solve it! (This maze is an adaptation of an Adrian Fisher maze from the book Quick Mazes.)

Games on a Number Line Draw a number line and think about games you can play on it. Try them out!

Perimeter Around the House Can you use your hands or feet to measure the perimeter — the length around the edge of an object — of things at home? What if you measure the same thing first with your feet, then with your hands? Which do you think will give the bigger/smaller result? How much bigger/smaller? Why?

Fermi Problems Sometimes, we wonder about “maths problems we will never know the exact answer to” (according to genderi.org/enrico-fermi-b,) – otherwise known as Fermi problems. Look for opportunities to ask such questions and think about how you would estimate an answer to them.

April 17, 2020

Sidewalk Geometry Fill an outline with colored shapes. How many of each? Extension: Challenge kids to design the outline. Can you make one that only uses [quarilaterals]?

Guess My Number Use a 100 chart, 501-600 chart, a section of a 100 chart, or a list of written numbers to help you keep track of what you learn with each guess!

Making Shapes A tutorial that will teach you how to use paper to make a pointed star.

Sums to 1,000 Use the numbers 1-9 to make three 3-digit numbers that sum as close as possible to 1,000.

Salute Two players hold up a card (1-10) they can’t see; the 3rd player gives the sum (or product). Players figure out what’s on their card, using the information on the other card. Directions and adaptations for Salute.

Measuring with Nonstandard Units Use a non-standard measurement unit (e.g., same-sized blocks or legos, paper clips, birthday candles, or spoons) to measure things around your home. How can you show what you found on paper? Extension: Find things to measure where there are multiple, different examples (e.g., dandelions in the yard, feet in your house). Put them in order and make comparisons like, “The smallest dandelion was one cube. The tallest was 5. The tallest is 4 more than the smallest.”

Save Twenty In this @mathforlove game, players roll dice with the goal of getting as close to (or exactly) 20 without going over. Players roll 5 dice, “save” as many as they like each round, and roll any they don’t save again. After 4 rounds, add the amounts on the dice to get your score. If your total is over 20, your score is 0. Play a set number of games. The person with the highest score wins.

April 10, 2020

Make a Puzzle Use the front of a cereal or other box to make a puzzle.

Draw a Clock Challenge children to draw a clock. Add hands to practice telling time.

Sprout  A game that requires only pencil and paper. Easy enough for the very young, with lots for older children and adults to think about.

A Number Hunt at Home What  numbers can you find at home? What do the numbers you find represent?

Sums to 100 Use the numbers 1-9 to make 3 two-digit numbers that sum as close as possible to 100.

Equivalent Problems Use the numbers 1-9 to make this equation true: ___ = ____ + ___ = ___ + ___ + ____. Then, explain your thinking, just like Lila.

April 3, 2020

Where Would [#] Go on the Number Line? Draw a number line that goes from 0 to — depending on the age of the child — 10, 100, 1000, etc. Ask “About where do you think [5, 10, 100] would go? Why do you think so?”

Counting Coins Give your child a set of coins. Younger students can sort them into groups, count how many are in each group, and name the groups (e.g., pennies). Slightly older students can figure out how much money is in each group and how to write it. Older students can figure out how much money there is altogether and how to write it. Discuss the value of each coin and relationships between the coins. Extension: How many different ways could you make [.25¢]? Do you have them all? How do you know?

Dominoes If you have a set of dominoes, make a sheet with areas for 1-18. The task: find the total number of dots on each domino, and place it beneath that sum. (Extension: Record an equation for each domino after you’re done. Extension: Is there more than one equation you could write? eg 7 + 7 =14, 3+1+3+3+1+3=14)

How Many Legs? Children can be challenged to count the legs on the humans at home; the legs on all of the things that are alive (i.e., including pets); all of the legs in the house including things that are not alive (i.e., tables and/or chairs). (Note: This activity is a slight adaptation of one from https://exemplars.com/.)