Math in the Car! Early Childhood Math – In Their Own World

Enjoying Math in the Car!

Children have a natural love for learning and exploring in their daily lives. Did you know one of the best places to support this enthusiasm is riding in a car or in public transportation? Here are some fun, easy-to-do activities that will both brighten your day and the child’s through enjoying math in the car.

How much time? – investigating long and short durations of time

In this real-time activity, children start to reason their way through durations of time while riding in a car or public transit system.

What you need:  a type of transportation

What you do:  Sit with the child inside a car or public transit system.

What you say: Easy to answer questions about the duration of time between stops. For example, From the last red light to this stop sign, did you feel that was a long amount of time or a short amount of time? or Once the doors close, I want you to feel us moving to the next stop. How quickly did we get to the next stop?  After the child has given their answer, ask them to explain their thinking. If necessary, provide examples of long durations (taking a bath) and short durations (brushing your teeth) of time for children to understand the concept. You may also invite the child to ask you a question about the duration of time. Once you answer, explain your thinking to them. Highlight both long and short duration of time during your ride together.

Select from the following words to make the conversation go smoothly: amount, big, length, long, long time, longer, quick, quickly, short, short time, shorter, slowly, small, time.

Numbers, Numbers, Everywhere! – exploring numbers with math in the car

In this interactive activity, children will identify amounts and numerals they see as they ride in a car or public transportation.

What you need:  A type of transportation

What you do:  Sit with the child inside a car or public transit system.

What you say: Easy to answer questions about the numbers they see inside or outside of their transportation. For example, Can you count how many trees are on this street? or I see four things outside my window.  Can you guess what I am counting? After the child has given their answer, ask them a different question about another number context.  You may also invite the child to ask you a question about the numbers they see.

For more information about how children learn number concepts, check out this ORIGO One video.

Introducing the ORIGO model for teaching concepts from ORIGO Education on Vimeo.

If you would like to download cards for the child to use during this activity, please click HERE.

About ORIGO Education

ORIGO Education is dedicated to making learning meaningful, enjoyable and accessible for all students with Pre-K and Elementary print and digital instructional materials, as well as professional learning for mathematics.