A sensory table can be incorporated into a real-world math lesson on estimation and liquid volume. Before beginning, have students write down their estimations of how many of one liquid measuring device goes in another. For instance, ask the kids to estimate how many tablespoons go in a one-quarter cup or how many cups go into a gallon. Fill a shallow plastic tub with about 3 to 5 inches of water and throw in various plastic measuring cups and spoons. Have two to four kids at the sensory table at a time to test their estimations. Have them write down the results and then compare those to their previous guesses.
This is a real-life lesson that requires estimating, adding, subtracting and making change. Pull out some plastic play foods, play money, label dots, a pen and a calculator. Use the pen and label dots to write various prices on each food item. Have the kids take turns being the cashier and customer. Hand one student a $5 bill and tell her to grab as many items as she can for that amount or less. She can then choose her items from the food selection and bring it to the cashier. The cashier must add the food item prices on the calculator and tell the customer how much the food costs. After the customer hands the cashier the money, he must make change with coins and dollar bills. Let kids take turns until everyone gets a chance to play each role.
To develop measurement and estimation skills, bring some tape measures to class and then let your students wander around the room, estimating the length of objects by sight and then measuring them. Have them write the name of each item on a piece of paper along with the corresponding length. After 10 to 20 items, have the kids sit down and compare the lengths. They can then make connections between random objects, such as noting that the length of the teacher’s desk is the same as the height of the blackboard or that the top of their desks is the same width as the class calendar.
Make a lesson on estimation and distribution a tasty adventure. Grab a package or two of goodies for the class, like vanilla wafers. Ask the class to estimate how many wafers they think each child will get out of the package if it’s evenly distributed. After a few guesses, grab a piece of large art paper. If there are 20 students in the class, draw 20 squares on the paper. Then have one child look at the serving size and amount of total servings. For instance, it may say serving size is three wafers with 13 total servings. Write the equation “3 times 15 equals 45” on the chalkboard to show the kids how to determine how many items are in the package. Designate one kid to distribute the wafers throughout the squares on the paper until all squares have an equal amount. There may be some leftovers; in this case, there will be 5 wafers left. Compare the actual results with the class’s estimation. After the lesson, each kid can grab his two wafers.