I have a very vivid memory of myself as a five year old running into my mom’s room, trying to convince her that I needed to sleep with her because there was just not enough room in my bed. When she walked me back to my room to see what I was talking about I showed her all 20 of my stuffed animals tucked under my covers too snug to move them. Of course at that point my mom figured out a way to re-arrange them without completely crushing my hopes that they could all sleep in my bed, but she made sure that I stayed in my own bed.
I know you might be considering purging your stuffed animal collection, but before you give them ALL away, here are a couple ideas of how you can teach your little ones two important math skills:
1. Measure those Teddy bears: Two important standards to teach young children when it comes to measurement is to measure with “non-standard” units and to measure with “standard” units. Some non-standard tools for measuring would be tape, cubes, your hands and feet, or yarn (as pictured below). Standard measuring tools would include rulers, yard sticks, measuring tape, etc.
So, help your child measure his/her stuffed animals, and then compare which is longer, shorter, taller, etc.
2. Sequence those stuffed animals: This would be a perfect activity for following up measuring your child’s stuffed animals. Simply ask your little one to put them in order from smallest to biggest, or shortest to tallest.
