Here is a great post on fun activities for kids. It is so great to be able to have some activity based fun with kids, and if you can add math to the picture, it can have some added advantage of helping them with the subject too. Here are some great activities that can help connect kids to math by making it fun for them:

Puzzles: Math based puzzles are a great way to ignite your child’s curiosity, and you can easily make or find ones that are appropriate for kids of all ages. This can also be a great indoor activity for those rainy or cold days that the kids can’t play out of doors. You can find a lot of puzzle sites online, or even make your own that will also be an interesting craft project with your child.

Food can be fun: Take your kids along to the supermarket and ask them to guess how many tomatoes make a kilo. Then move to the onions – you get the idea. Weighing each vegetable or fruit, and assessing numbers, then seeing the result on the scale will help your child get a clear idea on weights and balances at an early age.

Algebra through play: The Montessori method has some great learning materials such as the binomial and trinomial cubes, which help to improve motor skills in young children, as well as teach them the basics of the algebraic equations that they’ll find much easier to understand once they have understood the pictorial representation.

Visual approach: Boards are now available in a variety of choices – from the old school blackboards which are still so much fun, to magnetic or those meant for sanded letters. Use any one you want to draw or stick objects when you want to explain to your kid what basic concepts like addition or subtraction are about. Starting with visual understanding, and then moving to the mental calculation will imprint the concept very well in your child.

I hope these will make a good start to having fun with math, for you and your kids. When they are 4-5 years of age, they are also ready for concepts like learning math through Abacus, which can also help them with the subject at school. Do check out more details about our classes at: http://www.aloha-usa.com