Looking for hands on activities for elementary students to add some interest to your math lessons? You come to the right place!
In this blog post, the 10 hands-on activities are different from hands-on learning whereby students explore math using manipulatives and tactile materials. Instead, they are simply math + craft. So continue reading if you want to learn the exciting ways to make math crafty.
- Tips For Creating Hands On Activities For Elementary Students
- Fun Hands On Activities For Elementary Students
- 1) Paper Weaving: Weave a Pic Series
- 2) Create A Monster
- 3) Surprise Folding Puppet
- 4) Jigsaw Puzzles
- 5) Interactive storybook
- 6) Wreath
- 7) 3D Foldable Book
- 8) Poster Craft
- 9) 3-D Christmas Books
- 10) Dodecahedron 3D Paper Craft
- Bonus: Area and Circumference of a Circle Activity
- Final Thoughts
Tips For Creating Hands On Activities For Elementary Students
When choosing hands-on activities for my students, I seek to find a balance between the time used to practice math skills and crafting. After all, I’m teaching math and not art and craft (though I enjoy both).
Do also be aware of the time required to complete each project as crafting usually takes up more time. Ensure there is more than enough time to complete the activity, cause sometimes it is hard to stop halfway.
It’s important to keep in mind that not all students are great with their hands. Some may need a little extra help (especially young children) while others may prefer to do things themselves.
No matter what, guiding students through each step is essential cause it will be a bit hard to save a project when students make a mistake (such as cutting the wrong section).
A fun way to incorporate board games or a scavenger hunt with hands-on activities is to let students create their very own materials. This can encourage them to take pride in their work and they will be more serious when they come up with math questions and solve them.
If you are not only a math teacher and the place you work encourages STEM activities, do your research on hands-on stem play ideas.
There will be learning activities that encourage sensory play and messy play that suits both younger students and older students.
But in this blog post, we will focus on Math craftivities only.
Fun Hands On Activities For Elementary Students
Here are 10 different ways to do math the hands-on way. These kids activities require simple materials such as scissors, glue sticks, and most importantly, templates.
Remember to keep the trash can close by so students can throw away pieces of paper to keep their tables neat.
Ok, here we go and ignite your student’s creative side.
1) Paper Weaving: Weave a Pic Series
This activity can be completed using a 1-page template.
However, it requires students to cut neatly to get the perfect final results. If students leave too much white space along the strips, the strips can’t be aligned close enough to reveal the picture.
So remind your students to cut within the black line and align them in the middle of each row and column.
A worksheet or recording sheet is provided so you can always fall back to the traditional way if you have no time for craft or for accountability.
You can also access the worksheet via Easel by TPT, giving you a digital option to use this resource.
If you prefer minimum coloring, a colored option is also provided.
For ease of checking, an answer key is also included making it great for substitutes too.
So what are you waiting for? Grab the whole bundle at 20% off today!
2) Create A Monster
This is one of the engaging ways to learn this important skill.
Check out 11 Area And Perimeter Activities, Ideas And Resources For Math Teacher for more ideas.
3) Surprise Folding Puppet
An effective way to learn more about your students while practicing fractions is using this papercraft. It is also a great way to learn more about new classmates, making it a great Back To School activity.
4) Jigsaw Puzzles
This is a simple fun activity for young kids. Students will enjoy this fun game!
5) Interactive storybook
I created 3 interactive storybooks for 3 Primary grades. Basically, students will become an author and illustrators by filling up the pages, cut and paste to create a math book with a storyline.
They create their very own interactive books whereby students can open the flaps and view the answers below them.
6) Wreath
Key Features:
- ✅Christmas Wreath Craft
- ✅Multiplying A Fraction By A Whole Number
- ✅Multiplying A Fraction By A Fraction
- ✅18 questions in total
- ✅2 designs
- ✅How to use this resource
- ✅Printing directions
- ✅Ways to use this resource
- ✅Answers
- ✅Fun & Engaging
- ✅No Prep!
- ✅Economical printing: Black & White
Great for:
- Singapore Primary 5
- 4th & 5th Grade
- Christmas
- December
- Math Centers / Stations
- Review
- Early Finisher
- Substitute
- Bulletin Display
- Door Display
7) 3D Foldable Book
3d foldable pop-up book craft is designed to help children understand the properties of quadrilaterals:
- Square
- Rhombus
- Parallelogram
- Trapezium
- Rectangle
A folded book tutorial with images is given so you and your students can learn how to create a foldable booklet with ease.
You will also receive 6 NO-PREP templates, printing directions, and reference answer key.
You can use this resource to teach your students how to differentiate shapes instead of using it to teach angles. Hence, this resource can cater to 3rd to 11th Grades. Personally, I use it for Singapore Primary 5 and 6 when teaching properties of 4-sided figures.
Check out the preview for more details about this quadrilateral art activity to see if it is suitable for your student’s needs.
8) Poster Craft
This is a simple activity that can also be done by younger children. Students just need to answer the 6 non-routine math word problems, cut and glue them together to form a poster.
There are 15 pages of done-for-you templates that you can mix and match to create your unique gnome.
With the EDITABLE and empty template, you can also use this for other math skills and subjects!
Additional teacher’s guides are also provided to ensure the usage of this resource is a no-brainer:
- ✅How to use this resource
- ✅Printing directions
- ✅Ways to use this resource
- ✅Answers with step-by-step solution provided
This gnome poster is perfect for a bulletin board display in December but you can also use it all year round.
9) 3-D Christmas Books
Grab the free templates and check out 3 Easy And Free Printable 3d Christmas Ornaments Using Paper Templates for more details.
10) Dodecahedron 3D Paper Craft
The dodecahedron has 12 sides. Each 3-D papercraft will have a title side and 11 sides that require students to solve math problems.
I use this craft with different math skills to cater to Primary 3 to 6. So do check out my store for various math skills. And if you can’t find the math skills you need, drop me an email and we can discuss the perfect dodecahedron that suits your need.
Students love to create this! Do check out the video preview to see how it is formed.
Bonus: Area and Circumference of a Circle Activity
Make learning fun for older kids with this unique hands-on activity! Students get to explore what circumference really means and practice their math skills.
I do this activity with my Primary 6 students (aged 12 years old) but these math skills may be taught in middle school instead.
Final Thoughts
Hands-on activities are great ways to get kids involved in learning. These math activities are the perfect way to incorporate art and craft with math, making it one of my favorite things to do with the whole class.
I’ll bet this learning experience will also be one of your students’ favorite ways to review math skills!
Hopefully, these fun ideas can inspire you when you come up with your lesson plans for the school year. If you love to buy done-for-you crafts templates, check out my TpT store.
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