Step 3: Math Talk – Out and About
Shapes
You might see a circle in a design in a building and ask your child to point out other circles they see, such as the circles in a traffic light. Traffic signs and shop signs provide a great supply of shapes you can describe and name. There is no end to the shapes, colors, and counting that you can find and talk about once you make a habit of looking for them.
Traveling
There are many mathematical things to talk about as you travel. If you see a somewhat unusual red car, you can point that out and count together other red cars that are like it. Ask about bigger, smaller, thinner, and wider things such as buildings, windows, trees, and people. Which things are closer than others, and which things are farther away?
Counting in a store
Talk about how many apples you need, and count them out as you pick them out. Count the people in line in front of you, and compare that to the length of the other lines.
Point out the shapes of fruit or pictures on food boxes. Talk about how some things come in boxes, and other things come in round bottles. You might need something on a high shelf, or something on a low shelf. There is so much to describe and compare!
In a park
Count the children, the number of structures or trees, or anything else. Comment about where there is more of one thing than another.
On the swings
Pushing your child on something that swings or sways back and forth is a perfect opportunity to count with your child. With each push, count “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” After your child starts learning how to count to 5, counting down from 5 is also a good idea. Start or end at 0 sometimes.
Point out the circles, curves, straight lines, triangles, and rectangles in the park. Talk about how some things are over, under, between, or on top of other things.