4 Coloring Activities for 1st Grade Math

1st grade math is the perfect subject for reinforcing at home. There exist fun and interesting opportunities at home to reinforce what your child is learning in 1st grade math class. Here are some ideas to use if your child loves to color.

1. Hidden Picture Math Coloring Sheets

While this is not a DIY project, you can easily find hidden picture math coloring sheets for 1st grade math online to download and print. These coloring sheets have a math fact in each of the spaces and a corresponding color for the answers. The child will solve the problems, then color each space the appropriate color. If answered correctly, the page will reveal a clear picture of something. These are great practice because they are self-checking – if the child gets the wrong answer the picture will not look right and the child will know that the answer is not correct.

2. Candy Corn Math Facts

Use the pyramid shape of the candy corn to your advantage as you reinforce the tens and ones places. Cut out candy corn shapes and then divide them into the three sections for the three different colors with a black marker line. Have your child color the middle section yellow and the bottom section orange, leaving the top section white. Then, place a two-digit number in the top section, such as 32.

In the middle yellow section, have the child break it down into tens and ones (3 tens, 2 ones). In the bottom orange section, have the child show the math fact that makes it true (30 + 2 = 32). You can repeat this as many times as you want and then decorate part of your home with the completed candy corns to retain the ideas in the child’s mind.

3. Tally Mark Friends

Use large craft sticks for this project. Have your child color people onto around 10 large craft sticks. Then, tell a story about five friends. One of them (choose one craft stick) is clumsy. Whenever the five friends are together, they like to line up. The clumsy one is always on the end and falls over (lay the chosen stick diagonally on top of the other four). Of course, being good friends, the others always catch the clumsy one. This is how tally marks work. When you get to five, one of them becomes “clumsy” and has to get caught by the others. Have the child practice making tally marks using the people for different number combinations.

4. Grab and Graph

Graphing is an important concept in 1st grade math, and this activity will reinforce it in a fun way. Give your child some large graph paper or a blank bar graph printable you can find online. Then, create a bowl with a mix of different items. Small foods, like raisins, M&M, peanuts and chocolate chips, are the best size.

Have your child grab a handful of the items from the bowl. Then, count how many of each type was grabbed, graphing the answer on the paper. Discuss which was more, which was less and then repeat the activity and compare.

1st grade math gives many opportunities to supplement in a fun way at home. If you find that you need further help, Thinkster Math makes it easy to reinforce what your children are learning at school, right in your home. With the help of personalized instruction from certified teachers, Thinkster can make 1st grade math even more enjoyable for your child.