Fun Activities To Develop Your Child's Maths Skills Through Play

Learning Math need not be boring! It does not have to involve worksheets or flash cards. Instead, Maths activities for your child can be hands-on, engaging, and most importantly, fun. The best way to achieve that is by teaching Maths through play. In fact, this learning method is often encouraged in enrichment classes in Singapore, as it is highly beneficial for precocious children. 

Why learning Maths through play is beneficial for young children 

Play is the natural way in which children learn. Through this process, they explore, investigate, and come to understand the world around them, thus developing their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being. Therefore, play is the ideal vehicle to impart tricky mathematical concepts and make them easy to understand for young children. 

Learning Maths through play helps your child focus for longer periods of time and allows them to gain a more well-rounded understanding of the subject. By exploring  concepts like numbers, measurements, and shape through play, they draw connections to real-life experiences which helps to deepen their understanding of Mathematical concepts. Subsequently, your child will begin to spot Maths in the world around them, such as the arrangement of shapes which make up tangible objects, and explore these concepts themselves daily. 

Fun Maths activities to try at home 

Learning does not stop in the classroom or enrichment classes. There are plenty of fun activities you can try with your child to help them understand Maths concepts through play! Here are some examples to attempt at home. 

Activity #1: Playdough

Children love forming various shapes with playdough. Activities such as challenging your child to create numerals with their playdough or asking them to place or remove a specific amount of petals from a clay model of a flower can teach them the concepts of addition and subtraction. They can also explore geometry through playdough by making shapes of different dimensions, such as flat and 3D models. 

Activity #2: Math songs and rhymes

Math songs and rhymes, like Ten In A Bed or Five Little Speckled Frogs, are an excellent way to keep your child engaged while learning key Math concepts. Bonus tip: Incorporating puppets to your sing a long session makes it more engaging and memorable.

Activity #3: Sand and Water Play

Young children are naturally drawn to sensory activities due to their innate curiosity and developmental needs. Sensory activities promote fine and gross motor skills development, hand-eye coordination, and spatial awareness, as children manipulate objects, pour, scoop, and squish materials, or engage in messy play. Furthermore, these experiences enhance their creativity and imagination, as they experiment, problem-solve, and invent new ways of interacting with their environment. Ultimately, sensory activities provide young children with a delightful and enriching avenue for exploration and self-expression, fueling their love and fascination for these engaging experiences. They will enjoy enrichment classes where teachers provide them with such experiences during lessons. 

You can get your child to fill up boxes and bottles of various shapes and sizes with sand or water to compare weight and quantity. Use this opportunity to expand their vocabulary too by teaching them words relevant to the mathematical concepts they are experimenting, such as empty, full, heavy, and light. 

Activity #4: Block building 

We believe every child should have a good set of wooden blocks at home (we have several in our enrichment centres!). Through block play, your child has endless opportunities to compare numbers, sizes, and lengths, and learn more about measurement and geometry. For example, your child can comprehend why one structure is taller than the other and how to add or subtract blocks to make a construction bigger or smaller. 

Your child can become enriched with so much more Maths and pick up concepts much faster through play. Do not just limit them to flashcards and counting exercises. If you seek even more activities to try with your child, you can check out our simple everyday Math activities to attempt at home. 

Additionally, you can consider enrolling your child in Maths enrichment classes to help harness their full potential. At The Eton Academy by EtonHouse, we offer Maths enrichment classes from K1 onwards. Our 5 enrichment centres are situated across Singapore, so you will be able to find one conveniently located near you. Visit our website today to sign up for a complimentary trial class to learn more about our programmes.