Fun with Graphs and Grids

Sorry, it's educational, too

ADDED August 19, 2009

Length:  Around thirty minutes.

Parental Involvement:  Explain the concept and demonstrate graphs to yoru kids.  At first, graphs can be tricky for children to grasp, so hang around and help them get it!

Kids Should Be Able to: Count and draw. After this activity, they will have an idea how to represent numbers and counting visually!

Here we go with some learning again.  Yes, we know it's still officially Summer break, but remember . . . we think learning is fun!  New knowledge is great for kids; it gives them more to think about!

Today we'll be working with some grids and graphs.

Graphs are a way of explaining stuff.  Sometimes seeing information on a graph makes it fast and easy to understand -- and we're talking about for both kids and adults here.

So today, have your kids make some graphs.  We've provided some downloadable and printable paper for you guys to use.  Click here to get it.

To make a graph, you need to choose things or qualities that you can count or measure.

Here's an easy example:  graph the number of beds, chairs, and people in your house!  Here's how it turned out for us:  



So, once you guys have chosen the two things you're going to graph, write each in a space on the graph paper, in the special area we've created.  By thing, we mean the "broad" category, such as "Day of the Week" or "Kind of Furniture" or simply, "Number."

Next, fill in the next to the individual rows and columns.  (If your child doesn't know what a "row" and a "column" are, now would be a great time to demonstrate!)

You will be filling in the actual days of the week, or the kinds of furniture or the numbers.

(This concept might be difficult to explain with words.  But use the actual graph paper to show what you mean -- and what we mean!)

Once the two sides have been named and filled in, it's time to count stuff and make the graph.

To carry on with our example -- numbers of furniture and people in your house -- have your kid count each item.  Once the count is completed and a number has been decided upon, your kid should fill in that number of boxes in the column.  

Again, have a look at our example if I'm  not doing a great job explaining here!

Graphing really can be a fun activity, and there are so many things you guys can decide to represent on a graph.   There is also an opportunity for learning when your kid suggests things that aren't nicely or properly represented by a graph.  Part of this activity can be discovering what graphs can do and what they can't.

Here are some other ideas of concepts for you guys to graph:

Number of bugs seen each day of the week
Times we went in the car each day this week
Books read each day of the week
Number of chairs, beds, tables, and people in the house
Pieces of mail received each day of the week
Amount of fruits and vegetables eaten at each meal today
Number of vowels in the names of people in the family

art supplies needed,

Share this . . .                                               

Send to a friend