In second grade, children learn how to measure using both non-standard units of measurement and standard units like rulers, scales, and measuring tapes. Your second grader practices these measuring skills at school and should continue this practice at home. Most children have a favorite stuffed toy animal friend or a familiar toy that accompanies them. So it is a good idea to practice measuring skills with their beloved toy animals at home.

To make this practice, you can do as the followings:

Share with your child that she is going to get to learn more about her stuffed friend by using her measuring skills to find the toy’s weight, its height, and its measurement around.

Second, make predictions. Let your child take a look at her plush toy animal and make predictions. Encourage her to think about how tall it is, how big around it is, and how much she thinks it weighs.

Third, find the height of the toy. Using blocks, have your child estimate how many blocks or cubes tall she thinks her toy is. Stack the blocks to figure out the toy’s actual height. If you’re keeping a chart, record your results.

Fourth, record and discuss the results compared to her estimate. Follow the same steps and measure the string using both the inch and centimeter sides of the ruler. Discuss with her which of her estimates was the closest.

Fifth, find the distance around the toy. Ask your child to estimate how many cubes it will take to measure around the toy like a belt. After she makes her estimate, take the kitchen string, wrap it around the toy, and cut it when it circles the toy once.

Then, find out how much the toy weighs. Again, encourage your child to estimate the number of cubes she thinks her stuffed toy online weighs. Use the balance scale. Place the toy on one side of the scale, and keep adding cubes to the other side until the scale balances. Let your child figure out the difference between her estimate and the toy’s actual weight.

Finally, discuss your findings. Were the predictions correct? Were the estimates accurate? What are the differences between the estimate and the actual measurements?