Now that spring is finally here and the pollen is (somewhat) subsiding, my kids have been itching to get outdoors! So it was a great time to link up with the Early Elementary Blogging Team to share some fun ideas for outdoor learning.
Math has been an issue in our family, especially since several of our children are living with ADHD. But with this easy sidewalk chalk outdoor math game, my active kids got some arithmetic practice done while moving!
If you love this hands-on math activity, be sure to see our list of math activities for kids with ADHD! There are plenty of hands-on math learning ideas there as well!
Sidewalk Chalk Outdoor Math Game
It took me about 15 minutes to set this up. But there’s a lot of bending involved, so prepare to use your back…lol.
What You’ll Need:
What I did was draw a long squiggly line on our driveway and then another about two feet parallel from it. That way, I could make a game board.
Then I added horizontal lines every foot and a half or so.
Finally, I filled each space with a simple math fact. I alternated addition and subtraction with multiplication and division.
The kids rolled the dice to find out how many spaces to travel.
Then they walked to the correct space. (Just like a regular board game.)
When they got to their space, they worked on solving the math problem in the square. For my boys, multiplication and division are still pretty new concepts, so I talked them through it using how they relate to addition and subtraction. They seemed to pick up on it pretty quick that way.
Learning to skip count is super helpful when it’s time to introduce division and multiplication. I saw proof of that in this activity.
And we kept on solving math problems until we reached the end!
Get a look at more ways to make math fun for your kids!
And for more math ideas, follow my Math Mania board on Pinterest!
This post is part of the Early Elementary Blogging Team linkup! Check out some of the other fun outdoor learning ideas shared this week!
Map Skills for Kids: Backyard Treasure Hunt from Life Over C’s
Nests Nature Hunt for Kids from Still Playing School
How to Make an Outdoor Mud Kitchen from Parenting Chaos
Outside Arrays for Multiplication Practice from Line Upon Line Learning
Gardening For Math Time from Preschool Powol Packets
Second Grade Math with Rocks from Sugar Aunts
Tree Unit Study and Science Experiment from Schooling a Monkey