From a young age, children develop concepts about measurement as they explore the length, mass, temperature, capacity, and so on, of objects in their daily lives. Everyday experiences help students think about ideas related to measurement.

Upon entering school, children should have already acquired some informal notions about measurement. Learning opportunities in the primary grades help them further develop concepts about what can be measured and about how to measure. These learning experiences occur not only in the mathematics program, but throughout the school day in various subject areas.

This activity is a great opportunity to talk about the concept of measurement and use measurement related language to describe which tower is taller or shorter or whether they are the same. Children can also have the opportunity to compare heights and arrange them from tallest to shortest.

Steps:

1. Collect 20 lego duplo blocks in various colours and write the numerals from 1-20 on the sides of them, using a permanent marker. On an opposing face of each one draw the corresponding number of dots so that they could be counted to match the correct amount. Lay them out on the floor with the numbers showing and set the challenge to stack them into a tall tower in the right order

2. Take the completed number tower and start to use it to measure different objects (books, tables, plastic cups etc.). Lay or stand the tower next to each object then brake off the cubes that weren’t needed and count how many are left

3. For older/ more advanced children, have them guess the height of an object before they measure it. Get them to reason!