Measurement skills are essential for every person in everyday life. Therefore, it is important to familiarize the child with the concept of length and teach them how to make measurements on their own. You can start learning at preschool age, when the baby is already familiar with the basics of mathematics. It will be much easier to master new knowledge in a playful way.
First attempts at measurement
You can start measuring objects with their visual comparison. For example, after cutting off the base of the carrots, put them in a row and ask the child to find the longest or shortest. Draw a line on a white sheet and lay on it objects of different lengths (pencils, spoons, ribbons, etc.).
To measure stationary objects, cubes of the same size are suitable. Place them on top of each other to the level of the table top and the height of the stool. Determine which item is higher by counting the cubes. To measure the width, use cosmetic sticks, laying them right along the sofa, chair, table.
The length of the room can be measured in steps. Calculate how many steps you can take in the kitchen or bedroom. Which room is longer? On the street, measure the distance from the entrance to the sandbox or slide. Staying on the beach, invite the baby to lay several paths to the sea. Let him count his steps in the sand and determine the shortest path.
Personal Measurement Album
When a child grows up, he will be interested not only to see his photos, but to remember what he was at different ages. To do this, you can create an album of measurements of body parts and various achievements. The longer such an album will be kept, the more curious it will be to consider it after a while.
Help your kid draw up the title page and other pages of the album on his own. Its contents depend on your imagination. We offer several measurement ideas for filling it:
- palms and feet. On separate sheets, make prints of the right and left palms, as well as the feet of the child. Pour paint into a container of a suitable size and dip the baby's arms and legs into it (for these purposes, it is convenient to use disposable tableware). You can make individual fingerprints for each finger. Do not forget to sign and put a date under your works;
- growth. Add variety to the traditional procedure for measuring baby growth with a ruler. Use a rope for these purposes. After measuring her growth, lay out the cut piece of rope on the table. Suggest determining its length with palms, pencils, spoons or other objects. Record the measurement results in an album;
- stomach. Similar to growth, measure the baby’s tummy. You can do this morning and evening after a hearty dinner, and then compare the results;
- family composition. Invite your child to draw family members, pets, including a parrot and fish in the aquarium, in the album. Then count the nearest environment;
- sports achivments. Kids are very agile and will happily support your idea of perpetuating results.It can be long jumps or on a skipping rope, squats, speeding, throwing the ball with the foot, etc.
After measuring with symbolic measurements, it will be possible to proceed to the study of special measuring tools. Teach your baby to use the ruler, explain what the dashes on it mean. Measure with a ruler the length of already familiar objects. Classes in a playful way will help the child easily master the necessary knowledge and skills. And their application in practice will push the baby to new successes.
