Children need to be able to see how fractions apply to the real world, instead of simply numbers on a board. To show kids how they can use fractions, a teacher can fill up a cup with water. Then she can give two identical cups to each of the kids and place a large bucket of water on the table. She can begin by instructing the kids to fill up half of one cup with water. Then she can show them that by filling the second cup a quarter of the way, transferring it into the first cup, and repeating the process, that the first cup is now full. This shows them that 1/2 plus 1/4 plus 1/4 equals one. The game can be altered to suit different fractions.
A large pizza is a tasty incentive for children to learn the concept of identical fractions. A teacher first slices a pizza into quarters and holds up one slice. The children then know that is 1/4 of the pizza. If the teacher then divides each piece into two, the kids can then understand that two of those pieces is still equal to 1/4 of the pizza. Finally the teacher can slice up each 1/8 of the pizza into 1/16. Everybody who can identify that four of these pieces equals 1/4 of the pizza gets a slice to eat.
Sometimes the concept of multiplying a fraction by a fraction can be hard for kids to grasp. To illustrate this, a teacher can assign each child a fraction, write the fraction down on a piece of paper and stick it using tape to the child's chest. He can then write down a fraction on the board. Each child must see if he can then find another fraction to multiply himself by to create the fraction on the board. The game continues until every child has had a chance to multiply himself.
To divide a fraction, kids can also play the multiplying game, but attempt to divide themselves. Instead of standing next to each other, once the kids have found their dividing fraction, they should lie down on the floor, with one fraction's head parallel to the other fraction's feet. This will remind the kids that dividing by fractions actually involves multiplying.