Preschool Math Activities

Do you remember thinking math was fun when you were a kid? Is it a struggle for you now? Math was never one of my favorite subjects, even though I generally did well in school. I want my kids, especially my daughter, to learn from a young age that math can be fun.  With the help of educational sites like PBSKids and Pinterest, I keep finding easy ways to integrate math into our daily life. Baking together lets me talk about fractions, restaurant play offers an opportunity to talk about money and snack time can become a counting activity.

In celebration of PEG + CAT, PBS KIDS’ newest series, Whole Foods partnered with PBS to create some fun ways to build math skills and encourage healthy eating habits. You can find activity sheets, grocery store bingo cards, recipes and more inspiration to get kids excited to make healthy choices. PEG + CAT focuses on preschool math and problem-solving skills and starts October 7. My kids got a sneak peek and keep asking to watch it again which is always a good sign!

Use a muffin tin to serve a variety of food

The red pears were the top choice in the muffin tin of fruit.

We created our own activity using a mini muffin tin and fresh fruits from Whole Foods. Using a muffin tin to serve food is a great way to ensure you are offering variety, both in options and in color. We cut up the fruit and then sorted it by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, and so on. For early learners, you could also do this activity and have kids count how many pieces of fruit are in each cup. There is a fun pirate craft you can print out and make with your kids that encourages counting, plus you can work on learning colors too with a variety of fruits.

Peg + Cat Treasure Chest

 

How else do you incorporate math and problem-solving skills into your daily life?

For more ideas, visit the PBSKids.org/healthykids website. Check your local listings for the time of PEG + CAT starting on October 7th on your local PBS station! Thank you to Whole Foods who partnered with PBS Kids Ambassadors to bring you these tips and activities! All ideas and opinions shared here are my own.

I’m welcoming Kristina from The Greening of Westford back again today to highlight a few things you can recycle that you may not be aware of. Everyone assumes I write a “recycling” blog when they hear my blog name, but it isn’t what I spend a lot of time highlighting. I appreciate Kristina sharing this list of random recyclable items!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  That old saying is in that order for a reason.  It’s better to reduce first, then reuse, then, when all else fails, recycle.  Jumping right in to reduce and reuse can be more difficult since it causes more changes to your normal routine.  With certain items, it just may not be an option.  Here are some easy items that can head to your recycling bin or local store instead of the trash.

Surprising Recycling Items

1)    Eye glasses   The Lions Club has collection boxes in many locations or ask a local eye glass shop or eye doctor.

2)    Brita Filters    Every Whole Foods recycles Brita filters through the Gimme 5 program.

3)    Cosmetic Tubes or jars   Origins Makeup Stores and counters will accept any brand of cosmetic tube, bottle or jar.

4)    Pizza Box    Some recyclers will accept pizza boxes without too much grease.  THIS IS VERY RECYCLER-dependent, so ask, it could ruin lots of other recyclables.  Even if you can’t recycle greasy boxes, you can usually still recycle the top part.

5)    Wine Corks    All Whole Foods locations collect natural wine corks in conjunction with Cork ReHarvest.

6)    Yoga Mats    Recycle Your Mat will recycle your used up yoga mat.  You can find a location near you or ship your mat.

7)    Plastic bags     Even if you bring your reusable bags everywhere, you probably still end up with a few. All #2 and #4 plastic bags/wrappers can be recycled at many grocery stores. This includes all grocery/store bags, produce bags, bread bags, toilet paper/paper towel wrapping, and bags for grapes, carrots, and cauliflower. Look for the #2 or #4 chasing arrows recycling symbol printed on the bag or wrapper. It’s on more than you might think!  The bags must be clean and dry.

A little known fact:  Trash pickup costs towns/cities big bucks!  If you live in a city or town that pays any portion of your trash/recycling pickup, get in touch with them.  They are very eager to encourage recycling where they can to reduce this budget and will be a huge wealth of information on reducing your trash in your specific area.

Do you know any more surprising items to recycle?

About the Author

Kristina Greene is the founder and editor of The Greening Of Westford blog.  She focuses on practical eco-friendly actions anyone can do to save time, money, aggravation, oh, and the planet!  Connect with her through her blog, facebook and twitter.