We are working on multiplication a little bit each week these days. I also discovered this week that my son could not remember the difference between area and perimeter! This week, I decided to give him a design challenge: plan a flower garden. It turned out to be a fun way to review area and perimeter!
We were going to be out and about today, and I did not have time to type up a clever worksheet for him, so I simply grabbed some graph paper and made a worksheet with questions. I also quickly printed a few pieces of clip art for him to use (if he chose) as his flowers in his garden. His challenge: create a flower garden in a 20 ft by 30 ft yard and answer questions to find various perimeters and areas. Here were the questions I asked him.
This last question was the most tricky because Raisin needed to find the total area of the entire yard before he could subtract the garden areas and the swimming pool and sandbox (which are things he decided would make the garden much nicer!)
In the end, I could tell Raisin really enjoyed the challenge! When we got his sister from preschool, he said, "Want to see the yard I designed?"
I asked him if doing this project was fun. He immediately told me he didn't care. Suddenly, all that excitement was gone. Apparently, I ruined the interest by asking!
At any rate, here was his final product for this round.
I am determined to make a more formal version of this challenge so he can do it again, this time with emphasis on making it beautiful. He insisted he did not want to use my clip art, but then he did not add beauty to his sketches. (He has never been a huge fan of drawing and art projects!) We also had a busy day as we were out and about. Maybe, with a more formal assignment, we can make this into a more formal result!
Want more flowers and plants learning ideas? See the other blog posts below!
Garden Math Adding Money Free Printable at Life Over C's
Seed Sprouting Science Experiment at Schooling a Monkey
Flower Suncatchers at Parenting Chaos
Butterfly Flowers for Preschoolers at Preschool Powol Packets
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