Grocery Guessing Games (aka, Sneak Attack Math)

Use math in your everyday conversations to help teach your kids, right? That's what the "experts" all say. There's nothing BUT math at the grocery store, and while I've kicked around the idea of giving each child a calculator so we can talk about unit math, and cost per use, and even calculate tax, that's always felt too overwhelming while pushing a cart, checking off a list, and making sure the Super Size pack of Double Stuf Oreos doesn't mysteriously end up under the canned goods.

I had a really short list yesterday with less than ten things on it, so I figured, this is a good time to make this a math game. Instead of the calculator, I went with a guessing game. On the way to the store, we went through the list together, talking about how big the pack was and how many might be in it. They then had to guess how much it cost and write it down. When we got to the store, we would write down the real price and see who was closest.

Hooooooo boy. Good thing my kiddos don't work in the pricing department at Walmart.

Caroline's list - adjusted after the first few items

John's list - apparently, he was paying attention during
some of those trips to the store with Daddy!