Measuring can be so much fun! When we measure using objects other than a ruler, tape measure, measuring cups/spoons we call it non-standard measurement. Using non-standard measurements is a fun while still practical way of introducing this concept to your little. All you’ll need for today is:
- Non-standard measurement objects (pumpkin candies, paper clips, 1 inch letter magnets)
- Large sheet of paper or a roll of paper
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Sharpie or marker
- Printable data sheet (scroll down for your FREE printable)
We had two pumpkins to choose from so I asked MJ to tell me what she noticed about the different pumpkins. Right away she identified one was big and one was small. (Categorizing by size is a preschool concept you can encourage with your little too) I asked her which she wanted to measure and of course, she chose the big one! 🙂
We laid the pumpkin down on a sheet of paper to mark the top and bottom of it like a baby gets measured at a doctor’s office. You’ll need to assist your little with this part.
Next, I drew a line with the ruler connecting the bottom marking to the top marking.
Then it was time to start measuring with our non-standard measurements. First up was pumpkin candies. She lined them up down the line I drew and counted how many pumpkins it took to fill the whole line. Then, with help she recorded the number on her data sheet. MJ isn’t writing numbers yet so to help her I drew dots for her to trace.
She repeated the same idea lining up objects, counting them, and recording them with paper clips and the magnet letters as well.
Here’s a close up of the dotted numbers I made for her to trace. Nothing special but very helpful for little hands who don’t know numbers in written form yet. This helps support number identification skills as well as fine motor. If your little can write numbers you can feel free to skip this step. 🙂
Finally, we ended the activity with using a standard measurement tool- the ruler. She liked seeing the numbers written on the ruler and counting up the inches to get our final measurement!
We connected this activity with sweet story we read this morning called, The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll. Our pumpkin was big but maybe not quite as big as the one we read about! Happy Measuring Monday, friends! 🙂
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