While we’re home for the summer we’re finding fun ways to get ready for the new school year. In first grade kids often learn their doubles facts. To get a jump start we’re singing the doubles rap and playing fun games like this outdoor water balloon math activity.
Doubles Splash Water Balloon Math
To set up the activity we filled water balloons and labeled them with the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Then we wrote the numbers 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 in a large circle in our driveway. Since Lovey is just beginning to learn the doubles facts we wrote the numbers in order. If your child already has some experience with doubles then you might put hte numbers out of order to increase the level of difficulty.
Before using the water balloons, Lovey jumped from number to number singing the Doubles Rap.
After we practiced jumping and singing it was time to splash! As Lovey pulled a balloon from the bucket she said the doubles fact to go along with the number on the balloon. Then she smashed the water balloon on the sum. For example, if she picked up a balloon with the number 2, she would say “2 plus 2 equals 4. More!” and then break the water balloon on the number 4.
This was A LOT of fun! To be honest until this day Lovey wasn’t very interested in the doubles facts, but since we played this game she’s been singing the song regularly and asking to play the water balloon game again. Sometimes it just takes the right activity to get kids exciting about a new skill!
Leave a Reply