Making Math Fun for Early Learners: Researchers in Conversation
In a recent conversation, researchers from foundry10 and the New America Learning Sciences Exchange discussed how (and why) to make math fun for early learners and their families.
Many parents think of math as a dry subject taught in elementary school with worksheets. But the latest research shows that children ages 0–5 can benefit from learning an array of early math concepts at home through small, fun interactions and activities.
“Kids benefit when parents introduce them to early math concepts through play and conversation, but families are more likely to incorporate math into their daily routines if it does not feel like a burden,” said Dominic Gibson, a Senior Researcher leading the Conceptual Development Lab at foundry10.
A group of cross-disciplinary fellows in the Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX) at New America recently collaborated on The Playful Learning Challenge, a project featuring 10 free gamified activities for young children, using simple materials at home to build early math skills and confidence. Parents were encouraged to make little videos of playing these fun conceptual math games with their children and to share on social media.
The research-based games and activities in the Playful Learning Challenge Pre-K and Kindergarten Math Kit developed by New America LSX Playful Learning Challenge fellows Puja Balachander, Jack Graham, Elizabeth Gunderson, Jeff Kleeman, and Cathy Mitchell can be played in pre-K and kindergarten classrooms, or at home with children and their caregivers.
Senior foundry10 Researcher Dominic Gibson recently interviewed New America LSX Playful Learning Challenge fellows Liz Gunderson, Cathy Mitchell, and Jack Graham about early math learning. Read their conversation below.
Dominic: What are the greatest strengths of this approach to improving children’s early math skills relative to other possible approaches?
Liz: I think by creating activities that are fun and also require little to no preparation or special materials, these activities have the potential to reach a lot of families and become integrated into their everyday lives.
Cathy: One of the key strengths is that math isn’t the ‘headline’ activity — they’re fun activities to do together with adults or with siblings or friends that happen to have good learning for developing the math skills kids need.
Dominic: Why is it important that math is fun?
Liz: Early math learning takes place cumulatively through small daily interactions. Making it fun means that more people will engage in those interactions more often, leading to more learning. Making math fun is also important for fostering motivation and a sense of belonging in math.
Cathy: So many are ‘math adverse.’ Parents and kids are quick to say ‘I hate math’ / ‘I’m bad at math’ when they don’t have to be! Making math fun is a good way to change the perception and put kids on the right path to getting comfortable with numbers, counting, and other key skills needed. Developing these skills early (0–5 years) is crucial for future learning and this age demographic is best engaged through fun.
Dominic: What do you see as the barriers preventing parents from engaging in more math activities with their children, and how do you hope these games will help overcome those barriers?
Liz: Many parents think of math as something that happens at school, not at home, or think of early math in a narrow way that involves worksheets, Arabic numerals, and counting. These activities give parents a concrete demonstration of how to engage young children in a broader array of early math concepts, including estimation, spatial language, number lines, flexible counting, and more.
Cathy: Parents of young children are busy! They have so many priorities and math development might not be front of mind, especially if it is a perceived weakness of their own. But we know these parents are often on social media so we thought it was best to meet them there. By turning math activities into ‘content’ they can share and celebrate it may encourage more parents to introduce these to their kids.
Dominic: Is there anything else you hope parents will get out of these games (beyond helping their kids’ early math skills)? Are you hoping to have an impact on parents’ attitudes/approaches to engaging their children in math in a way that extends beyond these games?
Liz: We are hoping to shift parents’ understanding of what early math looks like and to see math as something enjoyable they can do at home. Our hope is that we can also shift families’ attitudes about math in a way that extends beyond early childhood and helps them to continue to have a positive relationship with math once their kids are in school.
Jack: I think a huge benefit of this approach is the ability to create opportunities for parents and children to spend quality, educational time together — often away from daily routines. Finding a new way to start this engagement early can only be a good thing.
Dominic: For those on the team coming from a research background, I imagine one of the appeals of this project is the opportunity to translate some of your past and current research into something that can benefit children. Has this project led you to any new insights, or are there insights you hope to gain from this project that you plan to bring back to your research?
Liz: The biggest insight is that making math fun can improve the quality of my research — by getting kids more engaged, we can get better data. This is especially true for parent intervention studies. Getting parents and kids to want to do the activities is just as important (or more important) than designing activities that are the most cognitively beneficial.
Dominic: On the flip-side, for members of the team who are coming from backgrounds where they may not have been aware of the research on this topic, are there broader lessons you are taking away from this deep dive into children’s early math learning and the role that parents play that will inform your other work?
Cathy: I work largely in higher education policy and research, and this work has been eye opening in terms of widening access to universities. If math skills aren’t developed early, the chances of future math and literature achievement is limited, and the level of math competence by age 5 is a predictor of future years educational achievement. Reaching kids and parents in these early years is so important for reaching the groups least likely to attend university when they’re older, and I have become really passionate about working more with these groups in my current role.
Jack: I work as a journalist — now on climate issues but with a background in early childhood reporting — and I had certainly underappreciated the gap in early math support compared to other areas like reading. There aren’t any lessons that will directly affect my coverage right now, but for my writing it was especially useful to work with Liz in translating her academic work into more accessible and actionable language.
Dominic: Of the ten math games, do you have a favorite, why?
Liz: My favorite is “guess my number” because it is so easy — it requires literally no preparation or materials — and is so good for learning. Kids who can count to 10 don’t understand which numbers are “more” and “less” right away, and “guess my number” is a great way to practice those concepts and the relations between numbers of different sizes. It’s also really flexible because you can play with numbers from 1 to 10, 10 to 20, 1 to 100, or any other range that’s appropriate for your child.
Cathy: ‘Monster Drawing’ is my favorite game because of how collaborative it is. It can also have hilarious results. It is similar to activities that a lot of kids do already, so it is great to see how easily math development concepts can be included.
Jack: I think Treasure Hunt is my favorite game. I love how it really forces the child to think and listen to their parents’ direction instructions, and how funny yet instructive it can be when there’s confusion. It’s easy to play in any home and completely adaptable to different contexts.
Members of the New America Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX) Playful Learning Challenge team include Puja Balachander, Jack Graham, Elizabeth Gunderson, Jeff Kleeman, and Cathy Mitchell. Explore their research-based games and activities in the Playful Learning Challenge Pre-K and Kindergarten Math Kit.
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