This simple yet engaging preschool math activity will teach kids to create a bar graph to track how many cars they see driving by.
As my oldest grows, the one thing I’ve been so sad to let go of is nap time.
*sob*
Yes, my four-year-old hardly ever sleeps during nap time (that’s 1:30-4:00 for us).
Instead, we have transitioned to “quiet time,” which is where she plays quietly in her room, or sometimes in the basement.
I always make sure to say, “But if you start feeling tired, you can lie down in your bed and close your eyes.”
Sometimes she is legitimately tired, and she does!
Most of the time, though, she opts to play with her stuffed animals, look at her dinosaur book (yes, we’re in a dino phase), or color.
Today she was reluctant to be stuck in her room alone (even though I’m right across the hall from her), so I invited her to do a simple graphing activity for something new to do.
How to IntRoduce Graphing to Preschoolers
You might be thinking graphing is waaay to advanced for a preschool-aged child.
I used to think so too!
Long ago when I was a curriculum copyeditor, I had to write a math lesson on graphing for preschoolers.
I learned that 4- and 5-year-olds can indeed learn to graph.
First off, what is a graph?
A graph is a diagram or picture that presents information in an organized way.
Graphs are produced to record data which is used to answer a question.
When I introduced graphing to my four-year-old, I focused on the purpose of the graph first: to show how many cars and what color cars she saw passing our house.
How many and what color are the two pieces of data we are collecting and representing in our bar graph.
Making a Simple Bar Graph
OK, you’ll have to excuse my skewed lines here.
I could’ve gotten out a straight-edge, but I get pretty lazy in the afternoons.
If you want a more polished look, get out a straight-edge and make some pretty lines!
If you’re a lazy mom like me, don’t worry about it. It’s not thaaaat important!
First, I drew five cars at the bottom of a blank sheet of paper and asked Elena to color them silver, black, red, blue, and brown.
You can choose whatever colors you want for your graph. You don’t even have to do the same number of cars. In fact, we didn’t see a single brown or tan car, but we did see lots of white cars which we did not record.
Next, I drew vertical lines across the whole page to separate each car, and then horizontal lines in equal(-ish) distances above the car.
To keep track of how many and what color cars she saw going by, Elena would color a rectangle above the matching colored car.
For example, if she saw a red car drive by, she would color a rectangle directly above the red car.
She lined up her crayon colors beneath each car and was so excited to begin.
I don’t think I have ever been as excited to graph as Elena was!
Interpreting the Data in Your Bar Graph
Once the first graph was done, Elena brought me the graph and I helped her interpret her data to answer these questions.
- How many silver/black/red/blue/brown cars did you see?
- Which color car did you see the most of?
- Which color car did you see the least of?
- How many cars did you see altogether?
- How many different colors of cars did you see?
She also wrote the number of cars at the top of each bar in her graph.
What I Loved About the Car Graph Activity
I didn’t have high expectations for this activity, and I think if I’d presented it earlier in the day when Elena had more options to do other activities, she would not have been so excited to do it.
BUT, that’s what made this activity SO perfect for quiet time.
My favorite things about this activity are
- She is learning! There’s so much going on here from counting, to graphing (obvs…), to coloring and writing, and interpreting real data.
- She is asking and answering questions. (How many and what color cars do you see going by our house?)
- It kept her busy. She spent a good half hour standing at the window excitedly waiting for another car to go by!
We actually did this activity twice in the same day! That’s how good it is!
Your Turn to Try Car Graphing
If you’re looking for a good learning activity for quiet time or homeschool preschool, this is a great and easy one to try.
You can turn whatever you see out your own windows into a graph.’
A few suggestions include
- animals, such as birds, squirrels, or dogs
- colors of clothing people are wearing
- types of plants, such as bushes, grass, trees, or flowers
- other vehicles besides cars, like buses, vans, and trucks
I hope this math activity helps you keep your kids entertained today!
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