I thought it would be fun to have a post about balancing. Ever since I was little, I liked to balance on one foot or balance on anything narrow (as long as it wasn't too high off the ground--I'm a bit scared of heights). I also liked helping take groceries into the house and it always seemed easier with bags in each hand. Well, it turns out that balancing has to do with math too.
Do you remember those old type of scales like this...
For a fun balancing activity you can have kids be the scale!
- Get two bags or baskets to hold in each hand.
- Have the child close his or her eyes and be prepared with handfuls of equally weighted objects (like oranges or potatoes) to put in their bags/baskets.
- Can the child tell which one is heavier or if they are equal?
- Write what they are holding as an equation on a board. If you put one in one bag and three in the other it doesn't feel equal 1 < 3. But if you add two to the one, now they are equal (1+2=3).
- Then have the child pick an equation to act out. For example 4-2= 6-4
I'd love to hear how your balancing act goes!
