1. The first activity we did, was before it got too hot outside (um hello summer in Houston!). Using a dry erase board, Dutch & I wrote down a bunch of things we thought we might find outside. This is great because it taps into what schemes he has for outside & encourages him to make predictions. Then using a measuring tape, we went outside to measure the items we wrote down, and Dutch recorded how long everything was. Then we compared the length of items ("the stick is longer than the rock")
2. We were learning the letter 'o' at the beginning of the summer, our a/c died (ugghhhhhhhhhh). Thankfully I had already purchased some kinetic sand for when we were learning about the ocean, so I pulled it out and we actually pretended we were at the beach because it was so hot in our house (I thank the Lord ev-er-y-day for our new air conditioner!). We used measuring scoops to build sand castles, talk about sizes, & size comparisons ("there are 4 1/4 cups in a full cup", "a cup is bigger than a 1/2 cup", "let's use 2 cups to build a strong base for a sand castle", etc.).
Sidebar- I loath real beach sand so I put off buying kinetic sand for years. I'm kicking myself now, because it really is so cool. It's sticky, like it sticks together, but it doesn't stick to your hands. It is also really cool to handle, holds its shape, & is a breeze to clean up. Don't be scared of it like I was!
3. I know that I have already shared my new obsession with water beads with y'all, but I found another way to use them! Since we used measuring cups with the kinetic sand, I thought it would be fun to use measuring spoons with our water beads for practice. And to be honest, to make the water beads you need a measuring spoon, so that is already a fun way to use the spoons to create and track the growth of the water beads. Then when the beads are full size, my kids use the spoons to measure out the beads.
These three activities have been such fun and engaging ways to introduce units of measurement. These activities are so hands-on that my kids don't have a chance to get board & enjoy learning and the sensory play.
Have you come across some fun ways to practice measurement in your home with your preschoolers? Please share your ideas with me!
