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As parents, we know that math skills are essential and invade every aspect of our daily lives. It is this pervasiveness that allows us to turn the tables on our own children and use daily life to teach math. Better yet, our children may not even realize they're learning!

Board Games:

Believe it or not, these popular toys have a lot of math skills to teach our youngsters. Basic games like Candy Land® and Chutes and Ladders® teach our children the concepts of sequence and counting. More complex games, such as Monopoly®, teach higher math skills, money management, and value. Games like tic-tac-toe, checkers, and chess teach strategy and logic.

Card Games:

Basic games such as Go Fish teach young children number recognition. More complex games, such as Rummy or Standoff (War), build on earlier skills and teach sequence, place value, and strategy.

Puzzles:

Jigsaw puzzles are another excellent tool for teaching math skills. Basic puzzles teach about spatial reasoning, and some teach shapes and sizes. Children also use such skills as sequence and sorting to put puzzles together.

Building Blocks:

It doesn't matter whether children are using plain wooden blocks or Legos®; making viable structures requires basic math and engineering skills. Children use size, shape and sequence to build their creations. Through trial and error, they learn which techniques work.

Grocery Shopping:

The grocery store offers a cornucopia of learning experiences. In the fresh produce department, children can learn about weights, measures, and comparisons. How many apples does it take to make a pound? Which weighs more: five potatoes or five lemons? Children can also practice basic math skills: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and estimation. Which costs more: 7 ounces of peanut butter for $1.50 or 12 ounces for $3.00? How much have we spent so far? How many meals can we prepare for our family with this box? The bill came to $35.78. If I give the cashier $40, how much change will I get back? (No fair looking at the monitor!)

Allowance:

One of the best ways to teach your children money management skills is to give them a small sum of money to spend. Never has a six-year-old agonized more than when she is faced with the decision about whether to buy the new "Super Duper Doll" or "Baby Bunting's Stroller."

Keeping Score:

If your children have a favorite sports team, they may be learning math as they cheer the team to victory. Your children can keep score and calculate game statistics. How many passes has the quarterback completed? For how many yards? What is his average yards per pass? What is the batter's ERA (earned run average)? How many RBIs (run batted in) has the guy at the plate earned?

Play Ball:

If your children participate in organized sports, they need math as well. What is the right trajectory needed to get the ball into the net? How many points does the team need to score in order to win? What is the best angle at which to hit the tennis ball so that it falls into the forecourt?

Map Skills:

Using maps appropriately is one math skill we often ignore. Road or air travel offers opportunities for practice. How far is it to our destination? How many states will we travel through? What exit do we need to take for the amusement park?

Road Scholars:

Traveling also gives conventional math skills a workout. How many miles to the gallon is the car averaging? If we travel 55 miles per hour, how long will it take us to cover 500 miles? If it takes us three hours to arrive at the rest stop, what is our average speed?

One Lump or Two?

Cooking offers another way to use everyday math skills. Children can read a recipe and then precisely measure the ingredients needed. They can also modify the recipe using divisions or multiplication to make more or less, depending upon the crowd being fed. This is also a great way to brush up on fractions. If the recipe that serves four calls for 1/3 cup flour, how much flour do we need to prepare the dish to serve six?

Math is all around us. These are just a few of the ways you can incorporate learning about math into your daily life. Be on the lookout for others-ideas are everywhere.