Estimating

Use these estimating activities to reinforce your child's real-world math skills.
by: Trish Kuffner, author of The Children's Busy Book

Estimating


Estimating is an important everyday skill. And when a child estimates the answer to a math problem, he understands the problem better and solves it more easily. Use the following activities to help your child practice estimating.

Directions

  1. Fill a small jar with small treats. Challenge your child to estimate how many items are in the jar. If you like, have a weekly contest with the winner receiving the contents of the jar. Compare how many pieces of various treats fit in the same jar.
  2. Estimate things like how many times the refrigerator door is opened in a day, how many windows your house has, or how many cans of food are in your cupboards.
  3. Ask your child questions like If I had two dimes, three nickels, and four pennies in my pocket, about how much money would I have? or If I buy three bottles of juice for ninety-eight cents each, about how much money will they cost me altogether?
  4. Estimate things like which book you own is the heaviest, how long a line of ten paper clips is, or the difference in height between people in your household.