Make Learning Fun With These Halloween Math Activities

Pumpkin Math

There are a lot of fun Halloween math activities you can do with your child. These activities not only help them with their math skills, but also help them to feel as if they have an important role to play in preparing for Halloween. Use the activities below to bring the spooky season into your home as you help your child hone his or her math skills.

Gift Bags

Halloween is a fun time to give out gift bags. They can be inexpensive and creative, but they let people know you thought of them. Use the gift bags below to help your child not only practice math skills, but also the act of generosity through simple gift giving. You will need a pumpkin, salt, butter or oil, a cookie sheet, raisins,a scale and some small bags.

• Help your child to carve a pumpkin. Take this opportunity to talk about different shapes as your child carves them in the pumpkin. Save the seeds as you carve the pumpkin.
• Rinse the seeds off in cold water. Make sure to clean off all the pulp from the pumpkin.
• Make a list of people you and your child would like to give gift bags to. Have your child count the people on the list, then count out the bags. Use sandwich bags or other clear bags, unless you and your child wish to decorate the bags as well. Then, use small paper bags and decorate them before filling them.
• Coat the cookie sheet with butter or oil.
• Place the clean seeds on the cookie sheet. Stir the seeds around to make sure they all get coated with butter or oil.
• Sprinkle salt over the seeds.
• Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.
• Allow seeds to cool.
• Once seeds cool, place them on the scale. Record the weight.
• Ask the child to figure up how much each bag of seeds should weight by dividing the weight by the number of people to receive bags.
• Repeat the weighing and dividing process with raisins.
• Talk with your child about estimating, then have your child weigh out the seeds and raisins that go in each bag, filling the bags as they go.
• Ask your child to think about how much weight in raisins is in each bag as well as how much weight in seeds is in each bag. Have your child add the amounts together to see the total amount of weight in each bag.
• Help your child to check the weights of each bag.
• Seal the bags and deliver them to the receivers!

Practising Math Skills

Use these tips to help your child practice their math skills during the Halloween season.

• Have your child help you cook in order to practice measuring, baking times and approximate servings.
• Sit down and have your child help you with the Halloween budget so they can see how much there is to spend on costumes, candy and other Halloween items.
• Make costumes at home so your child can help you with patterns and putting the pieces together.
• Work on telling time skills by walking the planned trick-or-treat route to find out which route is the fastest. Time the walks with a stop watch to help your child practice telling time.