Measurement

At the Kindergarten level I like to give the children an opportunity to explore with non-standard units in measurement.  In the Spring I like to introduce the children to measurement with bunnies.  I purchased some bunnies in an egg that have the same function as monkeys in a barrel except their ears link together. 

I set up a measurement center with a basket of bunnies and a guide sheet to motivate the children to measure different things. The guide sheet was formatted so that the children could use this center independently.  The children were asked to measure different objects and to record the number of bunnies in the space provided. 

The children were so interested in this activity I purchased a barrel of monkeys to use as well with a different guide sheet.  The students extended this activity on their own by using  different items from our math manipulative center to measure objects around the classroom.  They would use unifix cubes, blocks and chain links.  At center time you would hear, "Look how many blocks tall I am!" or " Maya is one bunny shorter than I am!" or "I wonder how many monkeys tall Mrs. Bezubiak is?"

       
This center met several math objectives and was a lot of fun for the children. 
Math objectives met:
- measuring with non standard units
- one to one correspondence
- number recognition
- writing numbers