How To Trick Your Kid Into Learning Math Without Realizing

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Math has to be one of the hardest things to get kids excited about. Let's face it, for most people, it's boring and young children struggle to stay engaged with it. If they are falling behind, you might decide to give them a bit of extra help at home. But as soon as you bring up the topic, you'll be met with groans and tantrums.

If you really want your child to improve their math skills, you need to trick them into practicing without even realizing it. We use math a lot in our everyday lives without thinking about it, so there are plenty of easy ways you can incorporate it and make it fun. Here's how you can get your kid to practice math without even realizing it.

Baking

Everyone loves eating sweet treats, so why not bake some with your child? They'll learn a lot of math skills at the same time, including fractions, how to convert measurements, and more. You can even get into some geometry if you teach your child about different shapes in their cookies! They'll never realize that they're practicing math because they'll be so focused on the delicious baked goods they're going to get at the end of it. Baking is also a good way to familiarize them with the kitchen, so they are confident as they get older and start learning how to cook.

Bowling

Bowling is a great way to get your child active and familiarize them with throwing and catching objects. It's also a fun way of getting them to work on their number skills like counting and adding up scores at the end of each frame. It's also a fun activity for the parents too because you can enjoy the best bowling bar and have a drink while you play. So, you can turn a great family outing into an educational experience and nobody will have a clue.

Watching TV

Letting your child watch TV all day isn't exactly great parenting, but it does have its benefits. There are some great kid-friendly TV shows that are brilliant at incorporating educational elements in a fun way. Watching these shows together with your child is a good way to bond and you can help them out with the educational elements at the same time.

Board Games

Board games are a great way to teach your child all sorts of things. They'll be problem-solving, counting, learning new words, and much more. Board games make for great family fun too because you can spend the evening playing together, laughing and having a good time. There are some excellent number-based games for kids like Sequence and Chutes and Ladders that are simple to pick up for young kids. For older children, you can try more advanced board games like Monopoly or Ticket to Ride. 

If you approach the issue head-on and tell your kids that you are going to learn math with them, they won't engage. But if you use these methods to trick them into it, they'll improve their skills just the same, and you'll all have fun while doing it.