• Have your children line up assorted containers in order of increasing volume. Ask if the shapes make a difference in the volume or if height is more important. Then test the theory with water or sand.
• Use materials from home—cardboard tubes and egg cartons—to build a bridge. How much weight can it support? Use canned food or books to figure it out.
• Measure everything—furniture, toys, and their bodies. Use a ruler or yardstick. Cut a length of string and challenge them to find items exactly the same length.
• Let them cook with you. Following a recipe involves math skills.
• Let them shop with you. Which is the bargain: the sale item or the house brand?

For additional math fun, check out these new picture books:

Full House: An Invitation to Fraction by Dayle Dodds. Candlewick, 2007.

It’s Probably Penny by Loreen Leedy. Marshall Cavendish, 2007.

Missing Math--A Number Mystery by Loreen Leedy. Marshall Cavendish, 2008.