What is a preschool measuring game that uses a ruler?
As I was thinking about what to do for this post, I decided that it was finally time for Little Bear to use a ruler. He has been very excited about doing a measuring game with an actual ruler, so I figured it was time. I had to think of a good way to do some preschool-level measuring though. I came up with this measure and record graph.
To complete this graph, first choose a set of items to measure for this measuring game. We used math links, but you could use crayons, blocks, toy cars, pompoms, etc. First, measure just one of the items. One math link was 1 ½ inches. I showed Little Bear how to write a ½ so he could write it on the graph. Next, we set a second math link right next to the first one. Little Bear measured how long both of the math links were together. He wrote down 3 in the box on the graph.
We continued until he completed all of the boxes. He thought it was really weird how sometimes he had to write ½ and sometimes he didn’t. This ended up being a great lesson on halves and what a half is and how two halves equal a whole. I didn’t intend to talk about halves during this measure and record activity, but Little Bear learned a lot because it was relevant.
This was a perfect preschool measuring game for Little Bear. He loved being able to use a real ruler. He felt so big finally knowing what to do with a ruler. Of course, he has been going around our house measuring all sorts of things and now he wants to write those things down. :) I was glad that I introduced a ruler to him in such a simple way. It really made it possible for him to understand measuring.
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