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Growing up math for us was more abstract and never concrete left alone fun. We daily deal with pairs of shoes, eyes and ears not abstract “twos.”  Then why learn math is such a notional way.

Little did W3 knew that baby begins learning math the moment she starts exploring the world. By the time a child is toddler they can begin reciting numbers, but skip some of them. They also start understanding the concept of “more”; very often I hear Siya saying “mooore,” or “daadum, (to give me loosely in sanskrit).” Children are using early math skills throughout their daily routines and activities. These skills come really handy in when they go to school and also in building the analytical side of their brains.

So I thought, why not make it fun if Math is such an important and everyday skill. As part of my love for Singapore Math (See my article on it – Singapore Math with Pattern Recognition to the Sunday-Funday rescue!!) and Siya’s love for her stacking toys/flash cards this weeks Sunday-Funday activity was counting numbers using concepts of singapore math in a play-based learning environment.

We did two activities that were focused on visual identification of number and counting using her favorite stackable toy.

Activity 1

We bought some simple number flashcards with picture, Amazon Number Flashcards, however you can make some at home too with your kids. We picked out flashcards from one through ten. We did both picture recognition including number counting. Siya knew some of these pictures so introducing numbers and counting out loud helped.

Activity 2

A famous quote by Zig Ziglar, “Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment,” really fits well with toddler learning too including using various multisensory mediums. I incorporated stacking ring by Melissa & Doug (you can use other stacking toys too) in making Siya learn numbers.

Initially, I use to say all the numbers and then after few repeats I started asking Siya; 1 and then she would say 2 and then every other alternate number. Siya still is learning and says alternate numbers however, 6, 8, 9 and 10 are her favorite ones. As those are the ones she says in a sequence (See attached video).

We had a great weekend, learning numbers using different mediums. Leave your thoughts or comment below and let us know how you spent your weekend and how do you teach your kids Math.

Additional number activities you can do with your older kids

Explore home number

Teach them the address and key phone numbers starting with home and 911. Share with kids that every house has unique numbers and walk them through your neighborhood how numbers are in series.

Sort by sizes

Take different day-to-day objects such as cereals, different sizes of balls, marbles, etc. Then ask your child to sort it from large to small, ask him to see which ones can fit in a cup or not.

Make them chef

Children as young as 15 months can help out with cooking, have them help you measure, stir, mix while counting different ingredients.

Learn with technology

Youtube has over 50+ number songs and countless in different languages. Sing songs that have a ring or rhyme to it and have the kids point out to different numbers and make them count too.

These days Siya has been learning about insects in her “Art and Farm” and offlate has been a huge fan of bubbles, keeps calling them “bu, bu.” Obviously, who does not like bubbles!! especially when summer is just round the corner and you see some amazing bubble shows in the park. However, as an environment conscious and safe product favoring parent, I am always worried about store bought bubbles as they are infused with chemicals and glycerin.

So for this Sunday-Funday activity we decided to make homemade bubbles with a twist; I wanted to continue her insect learning with bubbles making. Little did w3 knew that you can actually make homemade bubbles without glycerin. The receipe we came up was super simple and made with easy to find ingredients at home- Secret ingredient was HONEY.

Disclaimer – This article does not tell you to drink or taste your bubble solutions. However, if accidently a small quanity is tasted or applied to skin is not harmful. In no circumtances adults or children should try or taste the bubbles as it is not safe to do so.

Activity 1

We read the “Alphabets with Bumble Bee,” book by Kristina Corona. What I loved about it was it incorporated the life and different elements of Bee through Alphabets. Siya kept pointing at the Bee, when I was reading to her, while she was sitting in my lap, a huge accomplishment!! (you know what I mean when you are a parent of an active 16 month old child)

Activity 2

After spending some time learning our ABC in form of Bees, we started making our homemade beebubbles.

Ingredients you need

8 cups filtered water

1 cup of Dr Bronner’s Pure-Castile Soap (You can also use Dawn blue soap!!)

2/3 cup honey

Beebubble making

Siya loves to help around in the kitchen (I think I have next Rachele Ray in making!!), especially mixing things on the stove.

First, we took a big pan and added water and heated till it was lukewarm. Second, we got it off heat and then added the honey and stired it till it was completely dissolved (Siya, loved doing this part of the activity!!). Thirdly, very slowly, I added the dish soap so I didnt create too much foam (this is the key step to a good bubble solution,). Finally, I lightly stired it to make sure everything was mixed well, and VO LA!! the beebubble for ready. We let it still for a while (3-4 hrs) before we used the solution.

Siya, had a blast getting showered with bubbles with her friends and as a parent I was not worried about unnecessary chemicals touching her. This Sunday-Funday activity was a great start to the summer as we learnt about bees in a fun and interactive way.

Try this out with your kids!! and share your thoughts with us. Share with us, how your kids started their summer or or do you have your own homemade bubble receipe.

Siya loves to get messy and creative with her art, which kid does not? This week we continued with the theme from last couple of weeks; to utilize mother nature in our Sunday-Funday activities. We wanted to create art pieces using paint and different natural things such as potatoes, star shaped carrots, leaves and handprints.  As a result, we started looking for non-toxic and all natural paints.

However, Little did W3 knew that the so called “non-toxic” art and craft supplies were pretty much a hoax especially for kids under 6 years old as these products do have alcohol, pigments, etc that can in large quantities if consumed or applied can be poisonous. The article by PediatricSafety.net states that over 70% of the calls that poison control receives is for kids younger than 6 that have used art and craft supplies labeled as “non-toxic.”

This was definitely frustrating because we want to provide a creative and developmentally stimulating artistic environment for Siya that is “non-toxic.” Growing up, we always used powdered herbs to paint pictures and make different artistic designs during festivals.; So I took this as an inspiration and started doing causal searching on how to make non-toxic all natural paint at home.

My “make at home paint” recipe below is inspired from my roots, easy to make at home and something that can last long.

Make @ Home Paint Recipe

Ingredients Needed

• 4 air tight containers to store the colors
• 1/4 cup of each of the Herbs – You can buy these from any local herb stores or from Amazon,  Mountain Rose Herbs or Herbs Affair
  • Yellow paint – Tumeric and Pumpkin powder
  • Green paint – Spirulina and Spinach powder
  • Red paint – Beetroot and hibiscus flower powder
  • Purple paint – Blueberry and Acai berry powder
• 1/4 cup Rice flour and 1/4 cup arrowroot powder  for each paint- This is used as the thickener and it does not change the color of herb powders.

Mix & Storage

Take a large mixing bowl and start with one paint at a time. To make the “yellow paint,” mix 1/4 cup each of rice flour, arrowroot powder, turmeric and pumpkin powder. Mix it well and transfer it into airtight container. Vo La!! yellow paint is made 🙂 it is truly this simple.

Now, similarly mix the other paint colors and put them in air tight containers. These paints will last you for a very long time.

If you don’t have time to make paint at home here is an alternative: Glob All Natural Paint Kits.

Create master pieces with no worries

We took small quantities of the above paint powder and started adding spoonful of water at a time till we reached the consistency we wanted (if it became too runny we added a little more powder).

Now we were all set to get creative, and we experimented with different mediums such as leaves, potatoes, okra, but most importantly we used safe, healthy, homemade, non-toxic paints. We really enjoyed our Sunday as a family and had a great time not only creating some master pieces that will be treasured forever but also learnt a creative way to use herbs.

To make this activity more interesting you can get your kids involved in making the paint, mixing different colors, learning more about the herbs and its uses. The scope of this activity is endless, try it with you kids today!!

Do you make paint supplies for your kids? What all do you do? What all do you do to create a natural and creative environment for your kids?

Couple months ago, I was invited to a Singapore Math session by “Dearest Community” to learn benefits of Singapore Math and Early Numeracy program. Furthermore, recently I read an article that the world’s richest person, Jeff Bezos, one that has amassed his wealth by being creative and trying unorthodox ways of solving problems, uses the same approach for their children’s education. “We tried all sorts of things … Mandarin lessons, the Singapore math program, and lots of clubs and sports with other neighborhood kids,” MacKenzie Bezos told Vogue.

Singapore Math uses a three-step learning model, moving from the concrete: blocks, cards, buttons, whatever to the “pictorial” phase — a bridge between concrete and abstract, to the abstract equations: 2 + 3 = 5. To learn more about Singapore Math you can read following links:

• http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/math/math-tips-for-parents/whats-singapore-math/

Little did W3 knew that kids as young as 12 months can understand math and there are many visual, fun and engaging ways to teach them sometimes boring and dry concepts of math. This week our Sunday Funday activity was inspired by Singapore Math. We took her love for colors and combined it with pattern recognition & counting numbers using different shapes and textures.

Step 1 – We started with exploring different colors and crayon

Step 2 – We created a quick pattern using some pom pom and math blocks (easily available on Amazon). You can also use what you have at home such as LEGOs, stackable colorful blocks, etc (options are unlimited). We showed her the pattern and told her different colors and shape. She was all excited to pick them up and put it in her mouth 😊!!

Step 3 – We then removed the pattern and placed the first yellow pom pom and said this is yellow, the next is orange and so we completed the pattern. Next, we started putting the math blocks in the same sequence and talked through the sequence with her. Finally, after couple rounds she pointed at the next sequence color and could recognize “Yellow” and “Orange”. If you have a grown up, you can ask your child how many yellow blocks do we have and how many orange and have him/her to add it (options are endless with the activity).

Step 4 – Next we created a quick pictorial image of what we were doing in Step 3 and showed that to Siya and repeated the step 3 activity.

It was a Funday for us as we always look for some exciting and creative ways to teach Siya and this was on top of the list. Siya enjoyed the activity, and could recognize colors, understand some sequencing of items and predict “what comes next (she did it few times)?

Let us know what you think about Singapore Math/Pattern recognition and what did you do this weekend with your kids!!