Kitchen Math
Patterns
Using Fruit Loops (or any other cereal similar to it) have
your child create a pattern on a piece of yarn to wear as a necklace for the
day. For example: red, red, green, green, blue, blue; red, red, green, green,
blue, blue and repeat. What is the pattern that she created (in this case aabbcc)? What other patterns can she make using the same colors?
Counting
Using Fruit Loops (or any other cereal similar to it) have your child count groups of ten
from the different colors until he has 120 (or 12 groups of 10). Have your
child put the groups of ten on a string to wear as a necklace alternating the
colors to show the groups of ten.
Multiplication
Using any cereal, put the cereal into equal groups (between
1 equal group of ___ and 12 equal groups of ___). Your child will practice skip
counting the groups to find the total amount (product). For example, have her
put 7 pieces of cereal into 6 different piles. She will count 7, 14, 21, 28, 35,
42. 42 is the product of 6X7. Have her try 7 equal
groups of 6 to find that product as well.
Division
Give your child a handful of cereal. Have him count the
cereal and then find a way to put it into equal groups. For example, if you
give him 56 pieces of cereal, how many equal groups can he make? How many ways can
he solve that problem?