Give your child a piece of paper labeled 1 through 5 for younger students and 1 through 10 for older students. Create a math scavenger hunt by listing items throughout the house that the child must find and measure. Younger children may only be able to measure to the nearest inch or 1/2 inch, but older children should be expected to measure to the nearest eighths or sixteenths. If you have more than one child, you may want to time the scavenger hunt to see who can complete the task the fastest. Of course, the answers must be accurate for the child to win.
Organize a large family get-together. Give your child a small notebook and have him offer each of the guests either a thin mint or a peppermint hard candy. He should record how many guests choose each of the candies. Use this information to create a bar graph. You may also want your child to survey 20 family members or friends by calling them on the phone and asking them what their favorite animal is. The child can then use that information to create a circle graph, or pie chart.
Instruct your child to cut a tree out of green construction paper. Make the tree as large as possible. Cut five to 10 flaps in the tree and allow your child to decorate the rest of the tree (no coloring on the flaps). Depending on what grade your child is in, write a math equation on the outside of the tree flap. It may be 5 + 2, or 6 X 8. Place the answer on a small square of white typing paper and tape it behind the flap. When your child thinks she knows the answer, she can lift the flap to check and see if her answer was correct.
Choose 10 items from your home and have your child price them with a yard sale sticker. You can use boxes of cereal, rolls of toilet paper, a pair of socks, and even a box of crayons. If your child is older, have him check online prices for that particular item to make sure the price he gave the item is realistic. Now pretend that your son is the owner of a small convenience store and you are the customer. Hand your son the items you wish to purchase along with some fake money to pay for it. Wait for your son to add the items up and issue you the correct change. Repeat with a different set of items. For younger children, you will want to round the amounts, such as $3 for a box of cereal and 50 cents for a roll of toilet paper.