Outdoor Maths Activities - Home School Math Ideas

Outdoor Maths Activities

Teaching home school maths with outdoor maths activities can be easy and fun for the homeschool family.

I'm sure you agree that teaching math out of a book is just a part of teaching maths, so if you're wanting to teach math in context and as a part of the real world -this page will give you some excellent outdoor maths activities and help you to begin.

Our society operates from a knowledge of computers, scientific research, understanding data, working with finances,choosing the best home loan or product off a grocery shelf, keeping in speed limits, working out fuel economy to carpeting a room, baking a cake and planning a house.

Maths is everywhere and is a part of our everyday life and experiences - so it's a great idea to teach math all over the place - as well as outside the house!

Home school Math taught in everyday contexts

The way we can give our children a sense of confidence with Maths is to use Maths frequently in our discussions and present our children with real problems, helping them see the relevance and importance of working mathematically. We definitely want them to estimate, investigate, calculate and not to isolate numbers and mathematics from the real world.

If you agree with the concept that Math should be taught in concrete ways through experiences of life - you may really enjoy "Let's do Math Outside" from SchoolhouseTeachers.com (read more below)

Let's Do Math Outside

(SchoolhouseTeacher Affiliate links)

These outdoor maths activities will give you the confidence to see the world through the lens of Math and help you to think outside of the workbook. There are 24 printable worksheets and it is aimed at years 1-4.

It includes measuring, counting, shapes, estimating, weighing - in an outdoor context. I have added the course outline below.

If you are already signed up with SchoolhouseTeachers, this is just one of the 400+ courses for you to use in your home!

Let's Do Math Outside - read more on SchoolhouseTeacher.com

The Course outline gives you an idea of the outdoor math lessons:

3D Shapes
Addition Hidden Pictures
Angle Adventures
Bug Count
Calculating the Age of Trees
Intersecting Sticks
Logging the Area of Leaves
Math Investigations with Parent Helps
Natural Estimating
Nature Grid Math Puzzle
Nature Math Challenges
Nature Math—Greater Than, Less Than, Equal
Nature Trail Shapes and Counting
Number and Place Value Challenge Cards
Number Bonds to 10
Outdoor Math Challenges
Partitioning Activity
Photographing 3D-Shapes in the Environment Challenge Cards
Photographing Angles
Roadside Café
Simple Math Challenges
Simple Summer-Themed Math Worksheets
Washing Line
Weights and Measures Scavenger Hunt

Go to "Let's Do Math Outside"

SchoolhouseTeachers also have a range of other Math courses for all age children - including everyday math games and preschool math playground ideas and foundation kindergarten math.

Other outdoor maths activities or excursions include:

Going to the grocery store - weighing fruit and vegetables and working out the cost;
Making a shopping list and sticking to a budget in cooking the family meal;
Work out which item is the cheapest - and calculate the items to per 100g;
Travel times - work out the distances when travelling;
Fuel costs for different trips;
Use a map to explain directions when driving;
Read rain gauges and outdoor weather thermometers;
Consider shadows outside and the position of the sun and the angle of the sun;
Work out how many plants you need to plant in your front garden depending on their size and shape;
Build a bird house or cage according to a plan; Work out the materials you will need to buy;
View some excellent examples of real life math here.