Summer Math Activities for Elementary Children

Summer break is typically a time for children to play and embrace the freedom of having low responsibilities. However, the free time can lead to summer slide, if not taken care of. The summer slide, or summer loss, refers to the loss of academic skills over the summer months. According to the research done by Duke University and the University of Missouri, children can lose two or more months of math skills by September when the school year starts. To avoid the decline in math proficiency due to summer break, introducing summer math activities into children’s playtime is important.

Math Hike

To incorporate math study into summer playtime, parents can take the children on a math hike. Some specific summer math activities children can do while hiking include: looking for different geometric shapes, estimating the angles of tree branches and then checking with a protractor, or measuring and charting elements such as the growth of a plant.

Math on a Beach Ball

Parents may write easy math problems involving additions, subtractions, multiplications, or divisions on a beach ball (or any large ball). When a child catches the ball, they have to answer the question that their hands are touching. Unlike going on a math hike, this summer math activity does not require nice weather. Children can enjoy the same fun at the beach under the sun, and at home during rainy days.

Create a Store

Whether it’s selling a handmade lemonade or DIY bracelets, creating a store helps children develop number sense and practice money math. The idea of having to do the exchange and give change back connects math with real-life situations, and can in return instill their love of math.

Telling Time with Plastic Eggs

With society’s shift to digital means, some children may not know how to tell time from an analog clock. To help children develop time sense, parents can draw analog clocks on one-half of the plastic eggs and write times on the other, then have children match them up. With this summer math activity, children can connect traditional clocks with digital clocks, and tell their relationships.

Data Analysis and Probability Book

Children’s books can be a lot of fun to use for learning graphs, tallying, and data collection. Picture books with math practices get children engaged, and help them develop a deeper understanding of a math topic. When there is a story behind the graph, children can understand why making graphs is helpful and better than purely looking at the raw data itself. Such summer math activities keep children entertained while strengthening their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Are you running out of ideas to keep your child busy during summer? There are many fun summer math activities to improve children’s math skills and prevent summer slide. Check out MathProject’s latest data analysis and probability book for ages 8-10!

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Citations

5 fun summer math games – https://www.todaysparent.com/
5 DIY Math Games for Under $5 – https://lattesnlaughter.blogspot.com/
Teaching Graphs with the best children’s books – https://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/