Did you know that your garden is full of ways to teach you kids? Aside from the science lessons that could be included, you can find math lessons everywhere in between your plants! Kids that are as young as pre-school can learn everything from simple math to measurements and more. Check out these easy ways to teach kids math while gardening.
Yes you CAN garden while traveling full time in an RV!
How to Teach Math while Gardening
Simple counting – For little ones who are just starting to learn math, your garden is a great place to teach them simple counting. Have them count out rows of plants, seeds, leaves that grow and more. Just the simple act of helping Mom or Dad will make it fun and they’ll learn their numbers at the same time.
Simple Addition or Subtraction – When you’re planting seeds, ask your kids things like adding the seeds together or to figure out how many plants your seeds will produce. Doing so will teach them simple addition in a way that doesn’t involve pen and paper. If you want to teach subtraction, focus on how many plants you’ll have after you harvest some of them, how many you’ll have if not all germinate and so on.
Multiplication – Teach your kids multiplication by asking them to figure out how many plants you will be growing total, how many of each type and so on. Make sure that when you ask them this that they aren’t adding if you’re trying to teach multiplication.
Measurements – Well planned gardens thrive on measurements making them the perfect arena to use them to teach your kids. Teach how to read a ruler when you’re planning how far apart to plant or measuring how big your plants have gotten. Teach weight measurements by seeing how much each plant weighs. Teach measurements used for mixing by letting them help make things like compost tea.
I highly recommend The Garden Classroom: Hands-On Activities in Math, Science, Literacy, and Art it’s a great book that helps you teach your kids more than just math and science in your garden!
Your garden and your backyard in general are great for teaching your kids. Don’t let these opportunities pass you by because once they’re gone, they’re gone. Do you have any other ways to use your garden to teach your kids math? I’d love to hear your thoughts!