Integrating Math into Curriculum

Krogh and Slentz (2001) suggest the following ideas, separated by subject discipline and progressing from the simplest to the most difficult, to help get you started. There are, of course, countless other ways to incorporate mathematics in natural ways throughout the day. After reading through the following list, brainstorm as many additional ideas for each subject area as you can that would be appropriate for the children with whom you work.

Language

• Shelving Books. Two- and three-year-olds usually enjoy being “helpers.” Let preschoolers assist by keeping the library corner organized and in order. Turn this into a math experience by sorting all the tall, big, or large books on one shelf and the short, small, or little books on another.
• Alphabet Blocks. In an open space, put a line on the floor for the children to stand behind. Have them take turns tossing an alphabet block over the line, identifying the letter on it and matching it to other previously tossed blocks with the same letter. Children can group the same letters together and count the number of blocks in that particular group. If a block is tossed that does not have a match, it will simply become the start of a new grouping. Although this is a language activity, it also helps children develop classification and counting skills, both of which are math-related skills.
• Story Sequencing.This is a common preschool activity that can be done with either commercial or handmade flannel boards. As you read or tell a story, you or your students can place the main characters and some basic props on the flannel board in an appropriate arrangement to represent each stage of the story. Vocabulary should focus on first, second, third, and so on as you discuss, and have students retell, the sequence of the story.
• Child-Made Books. As children get a little older, they typically enjoy making “books” out of their own writing. Once they have done this, they can count the number of pages in their book or the number of words on each page to determine whose book is the biggest, smallest, longest, or shortest. Children can then arrange their books in some kind of order such as shortest to longest.

Science

• More or Less. Most children enjoy collecting things from nature, such as rocks, shells, leaves, sticks, etc. These collectibles can be compared, sorted, counted, and discussed in a variety of ways. Objects can be sorted into groups and compared by attributes such as color, size, or texture. Students can count the number in each group and discuss which group has the most and which the fewest. Be sure to emphasize the difference between much and many, less and fewerby clarifying that much and less refer to mass quantities, while many and fewer refer to items that can be counted.
• Go Fish. This is a fun game that can be adapted to develop classification skills for just about any current topic of study. For example, if your students are studying classes of animals, you could make up your own Go Fish cards by gluing pictures of animals on 3x5 cards. To play the game, each child is dealt five or six cards, then takes turns going around the circle asking the person to their left for a specific class of animal (e.g., “Do you have a mammal?”). If they don’t, they respond with “Go Fish” and the person asking the question draws a card from the discard pile. The winner is the first student to assemble and lay down pairs, or groups of three or four, until their hand is empty.
• Fishbowl. If you have a fishbowl, this is a fun activity for children to help with. Draw a line on the empty bowl at the level where you want the water to be when the bowl is full. Using any cup or pitcher, let students fill the bowl with water and count how many pitchers, cups, etc. it takes to fill it. When it’s time to change the water, let them pour it back out of the bowl and into their cup for disposal as they recount how many cups of water were poured out. If using a standard liquid measuring cup, the related vocabulary should be used.
• Measuring Tape. Using a standard measuring tape or bias seam tape, have students measure various items around the classroom. Items can be arranged from shortest to longest, or their measurement can be recorded on paper for comparison. This activity can be modified in a number of ways with just about any object. Students often enjoy measuring each other as well.

Social Studies

• Community Helpers. Using index cards, make a set of pictures of various workers found in your community (such as a fireman, police officer, mailman, etc.). Make a matching set of cards with each worker’s tools, hat, or other articles they may use. Children can then play a game matching the appropriate artifact to the community helper that would use it, thus developing classification skills.
• Birthday Bar Graph. List the months of the year along the bottom of a large sheet of construction paper. Give children a copied picture of a birthday cake to color, or have them draw their own and cut it out. Next, have each child share when their birthday is and glue their cake above the appropriate month. The class can then count and record the number of birthdays each month, analyze which month has the most birthdays, which the fewest, and which the same number.
• Ordering History. This is a good activity for older children who are beginning to learn about historical events. Create a series of pictures representing historical events and have students put them in the correct order. Use vocabulary such as first, second, third, etc. to discuss the appropriate sequence of events that took place.  
• Follow the Bus. Identify the compass directions and print them on each side of a large map of your community. With a small toy school bus, have children follow the patterns on the grid to go “north two blocks, then west one block” as they move the school bus in accordance with the directions you have provided. If the map is too complex, create a simple one of your own to represent your community or the neighborhood that is most familiar to your students. 
• Going Home. Using the map from the activity above, have children place small markers (such as a triangle) on the map to represent the location of their home. Familiar places such as a school, park, or library could also be placed on the map. The activity above can then be modified as students use the map to determine (and possibly record) directions from one familiar location to another. They can then discuss which places are the closest or farthest from their home or school.

Art

• Attribute Blocks. Children can decorate commercially made attribute blocks with a variety of shapes and colors. They can then sort them into clear plastic bags by color and/or shape and put them away in bins that have a matching symbol (such as red triangle, green square, blue circle, etc.).
• Art Materials. Most preschoolers love to help clean and organize classroom materials. With this in mind, take all your art materials out and set them on a table. Let the children help you by wiping down or washing the materials (such as paint bottles, brushes, glue sticks, crayon containers, etc.). When finished, have students group like materials together and discuss which sets should go in which place on the shelf according to use. If students are interested in taking this classification activity as step further, they can organize sets according to color of paint, size of paintbrush, and so on.
• Geometric Collages. For this activity, have a good selection of geometric construction paper shapes in different colors and sizes. As you discuss the names of the shapes and comparative sizes, children can use the shapes to make a collage by gluing shapes to their paper. To make this activity a bit more complex, direct students to find pieces according to the shape names and colors you suggest, then use them to create their own collage.

Movement

• Move About. Children repeat and continue patterns, such as two jumps, one clap, turn around; one step, one jump, clap above your head. Make up your own patterns for them to repeat, or add some music to keep it fun and interesting.
• Find the Ball. Have children work together to line up all the playground balls in a row according to size. Then have each child identify their ball as you describe it by its attributes. For example, “Sarah, your ball is the largest” or “David, your ball is the smallest red ball.” Once they have identified their ball, children can take it outside to play.
• Rhythm Patterns. As children sit in a circle on the floor, you clap out a rhythm pattern and they repeat it. As the sequence is repeated, everyone counts, in rhythm, the number of claps.
• Body Numbers. Children use any part of their bodies to make the shape of the number you call out. This can be done with fingers, arms, or their entire body while sitting at a desk, in a circle, or stretching out on the floor.

Several ideas of how to incorporate mathematical learning have been suggested here. There are, of course, countless others.