Hobbies And Interests
Estimating and Measuring
Print enough simple coloring book style worksheets of a Christmas tree, Santa Claus or a Christmas star for each child. Using candies, marshmallows, Christmas stars or small candy canes, ask the children to estimate the perimeter of the drawing by guessing how many pieces it will take to go around the perimeter of the picture. Encourage children to give their best guess by looking at the picture, comparing it to the object they will be measuring with. Each child will write their estimate at the top of their picture. Then, after each child has given his or her estimate, the children place the candies or stars along the outside lines of the picture. When they have completed outlining the picture with their measuring object, they then count the objects to determine the perimeter in candies or stars. Next, ask the children to estimate the area of the picture by guessing how many objects it will take to fill the inside of the picture. When the math lesson is complete, the children can eat the candy and color their worksheet.
Budgeting and Currency
Using play money, give each child a predetermined amount of money and send them on a shopping spree. This game will help children learn about budgeting, estimating cost, adding and subtracting. Gather items such as small stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, candies, small balls, puzzles, books, and small toy cars or dolls. Put a price tag on each item, and set up a display as one would see in a store. The children then count their money and write down the amount. The goal of the game is to spend as much money as possible without going over the amount of money they have. The child with the least amount of money at the end of the game wins. Next, the children estimate the total costs of the items they want to buy. After they have their "wish" list, the children add the cost of each item and compare that amount to their estimate. If children go over budget by selecting more items than they can afford, they must decide which items to remove from the list. By comparing the estimate of costs with the actual costs, children learn the importance of making good estimates when spending money.
Number Order Game
Prepare a Christmas tree printout that the children can color. Print enough Christmas trees for each child to have three printouts. Prepare round color stickers numbered 1 through 25 for each tree printout. The color stickers will be the tree ornaments. The first game uses even numbers only. The children race to see who can fill up their tree with ornaments that have even numbers only. The second game entails a race to put ornaments with odd numbers on the Christmas tree. Make the final game a race to see who can put all of the prime numbers on their Christmas tree the fastest. Another variation may be all numbers divisible by two or three.