I am a math teacher, and I am constantly looking for new and fun ways to incorporate math into my 4 and 6-year-old boys’ daily lives. I want my boys to like math and think it’s fun. I strongly believe that we as parents can boost math confidence in our children if we introduce math to them at a young age and make it part of their daily thoughts and habits.
I try to talk about math multiple times a day with my kids. For example, my 6-year-old and I practice counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, 20’s, etc. at stop lights. With my 4 year old, we practice number identification and counting up to 10 and 20 by 1’s. My kids also love to help me cook, so I talk to them about the meaning of fractions and parts all the time when we are cooking and baking in the kitchen.
We are a big game family, so I am always looking for games that incorporate math too. I found Games By Absolute Zero, and I am so happy I did. My older son thinks math is fun because of one of their games, Absolute Zero Junior. This game helps children understand the concept of integers and their relation to zero. The red cards deal with negative integers and the black cards deal with positive integers. Each card has a ten frame on it to support young learners, and you can use only the black cards (positive integer cards) to play a game called “Find the Difference”. This game helps young learners understand subtraction in a fun way!
Not only is Absolute Zero Junior a great game to have on hand as a family, but I think it would be great for elementary classrooms or homeschool families to have on hand for use in centers or math time. Students will love to play the game, and by doing so, they will improve their math skills and confidence as Absolute Zero Junior supports the major academic standards of elementary math.
A good foundation in mathematics is one of the best gifts we can give our children. By using math daily at home and making it fun, we can boost confidence in our children and help pave the way for a love of math. Absolute Zero Junior and the other Games By Absolute Zero are a perfect way to build that math foundation for our kids.
