Making Math Fun - Unifix Cubes
Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 5:50PM 
I have one of those kids who LOVES math. When we needed some extra math activities this week I pulled out a box of unifix cubes and some flash cards and put him to work! He is five and a half and is working through the Horizons Kindergarten math program (which, by the way, is an excellent program if you have a child who catches onto math concepts easily and likes math), but I wanted some fun math activities to keep him engaged while my nine year old and I were doing some work together.
I'm sure lots of veteran homeschool moms have done activities like this forever, but for me it's all new. Each time I discover something enjoyable that makes a lightbulb go off for my kids I get really excited!
I started by setting out a couple of addition flash cards and telling my son to make the addition problem with the cubes.
This was pretty simple for him, so I showed him how he could self check the answers on the back. Here is he is getting started:
He wanted to do 20 problems, so the line of cards and cubes extended across the schoolroom:
I loved the look on his face as he was figuring how many cubes to use, how many problems he had completed, and how many he had left to complete.
When my daughter was done with her work, I asked her to check her brother's work.
This made her feel important, and it was also a good way for her to review her math facts. (There was some rolling around on the floor and giggling, but that's ok -- we're home, so you can have FUN doing your math!)
Looking for more fun unifix activities? Try these resources:
Math games with Unifix Cubes at ProTeacher
The Unifix Page from Didax
Mathematics with Unifix Cubes
- a great book with Unifix ideas
Oh, and don't forget the Unifix Cubes!
Reader Comments (8)
Mary, love that idea.I too have a son who LOVES math. I will have to try something like this, we don't have those blocks...but Legos should work fine and Lord knows we have 1000 of those..LOL..Rock on to your little math wiz!
Melissa
I'm sure Legos would work, too. A friend of mine got us the Unifix cubes at a garage sale - we must have close to 500 of them. The math is a little intimidating to me, but I'm learning how to make it fun. Thanks for reading!
That does look fun! I think my middle two would like doing math that way. We've got the cubes (the kids call them linking cubes) and my 5yo son likes to make robots out of them...LOL.
Might have to look into these cubes for my sons, too. Love the pictures! Stopping by via L.E.N.S photo challenge.
love your math lesson, and the photos, great post! Thank you for sharing your Math lesson with us :)
Found this on Pinterest....LOVE it. I am a special education teacher and teach 3 levels in my classroom from 3-5 yrs old so pre-k to K...this is such a great activity.
Thanks for sharing
my kids uses these for all her math.
check out http://www.mathusee.com/
Wonderful idea Mary. I have been working on creating printable worksheets around this theme. Nothing helps it sink in as well as those cubes;though. Thanks for sharing.