Skip to main content

Math Without Textbooks: Hands-on and Creative Math Activities

 Math is a subject that can be hard to teach, especially to kids that are hands-on learners. It is so often approached only with textbooks and worksheets, making it frustrating and boring for kids who need to touch and manipulate. My oldest absolutely dreads doing math worksheets, so I have been scouring the internet for math activities that are fun and hands-on. Here's a few of the activities we've done, plus many more ideas I have on my list of things to try:



Addition and Subtraction:

Use Edible Manipulatives- math manipulatives are great for hands-on learners and they're much more fun if you can eat them when you're done. Foods that are small and solid work best- like M&Ms, goldfish crackers, raisins, or grapes.

Grocery Store Math-  have your child help add totals at the grocery store.

Visual Addition Pom Pom Drop from Hands on as We Grow

Dot Sticker Addition Activity from Busy Toddler 

Math Towers- Unit Block Addition Activity from Nurture Store

Dice Calculator from We Are Teachers

Playdough Subtraction Smash from Mama Papa Bubba 

Double Digit Addition and Subtraction with Lego Bricks from Real Life at Home

Math with Legos- An Activity for Improving Word Problem Skills from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls


Place Value:

Lego Base 10 Math- Legos are great manipulatives for learning about place value. You could write a number and then have your child build it out of blocks, using single blocks for the ones and building 10s blocks for the 10s. Or do it the other way around, build a number out of blocks and then have your child figure out what number it represents.

Place Value War from Childhood 101

Place Value Games from Primary Theme Park

DIY Place Value Cups from the Imagination Tree


Multiplication and Division:

Multiplication and Division in the Kitchen- choose a recipe to make with your child but first have them double or halve the recipe.

Edible Division Activity- grab a favorite snack that can be used as a manipulative (M&Ms, pretzels, goldfish crackers, grapes all work well) and draw several large circles on a piece of paper. Then give your child a pre-counted number of whatever snack you are using. Ask your child to evenly divide the snack between the circles on the paper.

Repeat with other dividends and divisors. Then let your child enjoy their snack.

Waldorf Multiplication Crafts from Multicultural Motherhood 

Spirolateral Math Art from What We Do All Day

Switchgrip Math Game from STEAM Powered Family 

Jellybean Division Activity from Homeschool Blog

Multiplication and Division Flowers from ofamily learning together 

Math Game: Divide and Conquer a division card game idea from Cuppa Cocoa 


Fractions:

Learn About Fractions with Measuring Cups- grab some measuring cups and a jug of water, then head outside and let your kids explore. Ask questions like which measuring cup is bigger 1/4 or 1/3? How many 1/3 cups makes a whole cup? 

Baking Fractions- Bake a cake or a pie then help your child cut it onto equal pieces. How pieces are there total? Talk about what fraction of the pie or cake is left each time someone takes a piece. 

Fraction Cards- a simple hands-on activity that requires nothing but paper, scissors, and a pen. Help your child divide and cut a piece of paper into even sections and label each section of the paper with the appropriate fraction. Use the cards to learn about parts of a whole and to practice adding and subtracting fractions.

Activities for Teaching Fractions with Legos from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Paper Plate Fractions from We Are Teachers 

Multiplying Domino Fractions  from Relentlessly Fun Deceptively Educational 

Fraction Pizza from Inspired Elementary 

Cookie Fractions from What We Do All Day


Measurement:

Grocery Store Measurements- help your child weigh items in the produce section or the bulk section of the grocery store. Older kids can then help calculate the cost using the weight measurement and the price per pound.

Hands on Area/Volume Measurements- grab a tape measure and have your child measure and record the height, length, (and width if your learning about volume) of various rectangular objects or boxes around your home. Then use the data to calculate area and volume of the objects/boxes.

Measurement STEM Lab- this post has several hands-on measuring activities.

Candy Heart Catapult- Measuring Distance from Stir the Wonder 

Measuring Activity How Far Does it Roll? from Hands on as We Grow

Measuring with Feet from Inspiration Laboratories 


Miscellaneous:

Toothpick Gumdrop Geometry- build 2D and 3D geometric shapes with gumdrops and toothpicks

Math Outside the Classroom- this post has lots of miscellaneous hands-on math ideas.

Math Activities Using Nature Items- this post has lots of hands-on ideas using nature items like pebbles and sticks as math manipulatives.

Finding Symmetry in Nature from Buggy and Buddy


What are some of your favorite hands-on math activities? Share with me in the comments!


Follow me on:

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo...
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill ...
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -sever...
5 comments
Read more