This learning activity teaches children the basics of fractions. Place a gallon of water, clear glasses of the same size and different sizes of measuring cups on the tables for the kids to use. Instruct them to pour 1 cup of water into the clear glass and mark with a permanent marker how high the water line is. Ask the kids how many 1/2 cups it would take to fill the glass to the same mark as the 1 cup. They will see that it takes two 1/2 cups to equal 1 cup. Move on to the 1/3 and 1/4 measuring cups and repeat the same exercise, asking the kids how many each one would take to fill up to the same mark as the 1 cup.
Fraction strips are rectangular strips of paper that have been sectioned to represent different fractions, or parts of a whole. Cut construction paper into strips of different lengths and label them with different fractions such as 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5 and so on. Pass the strips out to the children, giving them two each, making sure they don't equal up to 1. Each child must go around the room and swap strips of paper with the others so they can accumulate the correct strips that allow them to equal 1. The first child to do so wins the game.
This is a game that allows teaching fractions while appealing to a sweet tooth. Give each child a chocolate bar. Let's say each one is already divided into 12 small pieces, so explain to the kids that each piece is 1/12 of the whole bar. Instruct everyone to break the bar in half and count how many pieces are in each half. There will be six, with the fraction being 6/12 which is reduced to 1/2. Discuss how many ways the chocolate bar can be broken, always remembering to count the individual pieces to label the fraction. For example, if the bar is broken into four equal pieces, the kids can count three individual pieces in each fourth which shows them that 1/4 and 3/12 are the same thing.
This activity takes advantage of learning fractions during spelling and writing activities. Have the kids draw lines down a piece of paper to make three columns. Create a list of words and have them write the words down in the first column. In the second column, write the fraction of the word that is vowels, and in the third column write the fraction that is consonants. For example, if you write "pineapple" in the first column, write 4/9 in the vowels column and 5/9 in the consonants column. This teaches the children that fractions are everywhere, and they are easy to learn just by counting.