Estimation Activities

After attending a family math night at our local public school I was inspired to do some estimation activities with my son at home. Practicing estimation is fun and an important skill. In life we estimate how much things will cost, the number of days until food will spoil, the quantity of tomatos we will need to buy for the week, the number of hours it will take to complete a project and so much more. These estimation activities were very simple and easy to do at home. Well, my son loved it.

First he estimated how many animals, mosaic tiles, fuse beads and colored pencils he could grab with one handful.

Then he grabbed a handful and counted. Each time he grabbed a handful of something he modified his estimates for the remaining items.

Next he estimated how far he could jump, throw a tissue, a Q-tip and a Band-aid. Again he modified his estimates while going through the activity. When he threw the tissue and Band-aid he also did a bit of science. It didn't take long for him to figure out that if these items were crumpled into a ball he could throw them farther.

That was all I had planned, but he had ideas for more.

He thought we could also estimate weight. He estimated the weight of three books, 10 quarters and a cup of water without the cup. To check the weight of the water without the cup he weighed the cup, the weighed the cup with water and found the difference.

Then he checked to see how close he was. All of the data was recorded in a notebook.

He is a visual, hands-on learner who loves to figure things out. This activity helped him better understand estimation and its importance while having fun.