Helping your child become a mathematical thinker is an important way to support your child’s classroom learning and the summer is a great time to do it!

Here are three easy ways to build math learning into your everyday summer activities.

Grocery store math games.

You are surrounded by numbers in the supermarket! If a six-pack of soda is $6, how much is a single can? How much is three six-packs? Have them estimate the costs of everything in your cart. When you walk in, grab the circular and see what's on sale. Give your child a budget to work with and see what they would buy. For other children, give them paper and pencil, and maybe a calculator so they can take their learning to the next level.

Fill your belly and your brain.

The next time you go to a restaurant for a family dinner, don't hand that menu back to your server. Keep it and check out the numbers in there. Have a menu scavenger hunt. What is the most expensive item? The least expensive? Find all the items less than $8. Estimate what you think the total bill will be. You'll be filling the time while you are waiting to eat, fitting in some fun learning.

Recipe to math success.

The kitchen is a great place to practice math, as long as there’s an adult home to supervise. Recipes are filled with numbers. Ask your child to help you "double" the recipe. Divide recipe servings among your family. Do you have enough? Do you need to make more? If so, ask your child to help you double or triple the recipe. Get creative with your cooking and your numbers!