Liquid Equivalents Activities

This entry is part 13 of 38 in the series Classsical Conversations

learn and review liquid equivalents with these simple hands-on activities for kids.  We use these in reviewing memory work for Classical Conversations math.  

I had almost forgotten that I made these Liquid Equivalents Cards earlier in the year. I updated the version I made the first time we went through Cycle 2 to be more visually appealing. Then in the busy-ness of learning and reviewing Skip Counting, I forgot all about them!

But Week 12 of Classical Conversations is upon us and it is time to break these out, laminate them and enjoy them with my kids.

But I don’t just want to share these cute cards with you, I want to give you my very best ideas for reviewing Liquid Equivalents.

learn and review liquid equivalents with these simple hands-on activities for kids.  We use these in reviewing memory work for Classical Conversations math.  

As with our Skip Counting Cards, the Liquid Equivalents Cards are available in our Shop. Go grab them and come back here for tips on how to best use them.

Now that you have the cards, here are my best ideas for hands-on learning and reviewing of liquid equivalents.

Simple Grab and Match with Songs

Our first year in Classical Conversations, I simply made cards with the words printed on them and had my student match each measurement to a sticky note.

We made it a little more interesting by hiding the sticky notes (little ones who cannot read yet delight in this!) first. We would sing the songs or chant the chants as we searched for the right sticky note to go with the card my student had in her hands.

You can use the updated version of these cards in the same way. Hide half of the cards (with a little one’s help, if possible) and have a searching singing good time.

Memory Match Game

You can also take these Liquid Equivalents cards and make them into a Memory Match Game. The instructions to do this are included in the download. Once you have printed them out, you can place them face down and have your student remember not only where the cards are, but which equivalents go together. This is perfect for the younger Foundations students.

Water Sensory Bin

I have yet to meet a kid who does not love playing with water in all manner of containers. I saved up some specific liquid measurement containers and fill a tub with water and let the kids go to town. This is more play-intensive, but singing songs is always encouraged while the kids are exploring.

You can really increase the fun by adding some food coloring to the water in specific size containers and having the kids mix colors. For example, you could have 8 fluid ounces of red mixed with another cup of blue to make one pint. Playing around with colors and combinations will help increase students’ understanding of the relationships between the measurements.

Water Relay (larger equivalents)

This is my absolute favorite idea and I KNOW my kids are going to have so much fun doing this together. Obviously a water is fun. And a relay is always fun, too!

The idea here is to have the larger of two given equivalents container at one end of the course (say, a gallon). A bucket of water and the corresponding smaller of the given equivalents container at the other end of the course (in this example, it would be a quart container).

At the beginning of the relay, tell the kids we are working on filling a container of X size and ask, how many trips should we have to make if we have a container of Y size? Now they have a goal to work toward to fill the the container.

I feel like I am over-explaining this – you have seen a relay before, right? Anyway, this would work in large family settings or even for a fun review day with other families in community.

Cooking and Baking with Kids (smaller equivalents)

One of the best ways I can think of to help kids practice equivalents on a smaller scale (teaspoons and Tablespoons) is baking! I think it is almost universal: Kids like to bake.

Most of the time it is worth the mess to bake with kids. They get so much enjoyment out of it. And their sense of accomplishment is evident in their willingness to eat their own creations.

I searched out a recipe to give my kids lots of practice with teaspoons and Tablespoons and I found a wonderful recipe for Sheet Pan Pancakes. Perfect for a Saturday morning math review session!

More Math Resources

I truly hope these ideas are helpful to you and your students as you work to memorize and understand equivalents. Here are a few of our math posts that might interest you:

learn and review liquid equivalents with these simple hands-on activities for kids.  We use these in reviewing memory work for Classical Conversations math.  


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