Graphing Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
Graphing activities for preschool and kindergarten include collecting data and organizing it in a variety of ways.
When children walk around the classroom and ask their friends which cereal they prefer, put a tally mark under the cereal picture, and count how many tally marks are in each column, they are not only graphing but also working with statistics or data analysis.
There are lots of fun things to do in this area of math and they all tie in nicely with science activities. When children are making guesses about what might happen in different situations, they are learning about probability. The more experiences they have with concrete objects the more accurate their guesses will be.
In the above image the child has cut pictures out of a grocery ad and glued them on his tally sheet.
Statistics, probability and graphing activities
- what do children need to know?
The children should have experiences:
- collecting information
- counting and making tallies
- surveying peers
- sorting objects
- making graphs with real things and making picture graphs
- reading graphs
- making observations from a graph
- working with tally marks and comparing their results with a friend's results
- asking questions about graph results
- using the terms "never, sometimes, always"
Graphing Mats
A plain, heavy vinyl picnic table cover makes a good mat for graphing larger items.
Strips of colored hockey tape make the grids. Usually 3 columns and 12 rows are enough. If you prefer, commercial mats like the one in the image are available.
Commercial mats come in durable vinyl and feature a blue 3 x 10 array on one side and a red 4 x 12 array on the reverse. They provide a way to graph, count, sort, and compare real objects or pictures.
As seen in the image on the left, small items and pictures can be easily graphed in pocket charts.
Magnetic chalkboards make it easy to create spontaneous graphs. Draw 2 pictures on the board, draw a line between them and have children place a small fridge magnet under their favorite category.
In this picture book jackets are clipped to the chalkboard and the children have placed their magnet under their favorite book. Book covers can be photocopied.
Starting out with Graphs
Graphing activities are fun to do in class and there are endless things to graph throughout the year. Themes, holidays and everyday items all provide ideas for things to compare or sort.
Graphs make counting and comparing meaningful and provide opportunities to bring numbers, letters, letter sounds and other literacy skills to the children's attention. Graphing activities in the early grades are generally limited to real and pictorial graphs.
Graphing is taught in three steps:
- Begin by placing real things on a graphing mat or in a pocket chart
- Next, introduce pictorial graphs - place pictures that represent the real objects on a graph
- Symbolic graphs - use words and numbers to represent the data collected
Go from "Graphing Activities 1" to "Graphing Activities 2"
Graphing 2 contents:
- Sample real graph activity
- Sample graph questions
- Teacher Tips
All math pages:
Teaching kindergarten & preschool math - how to teach kindergarten and preschool math concepts, sample step-by-step teach measurement, activities and games
Teaching with math manipulatives - how to teach with math manipulatives to help children understand math concepts
Best math manipulatives - choose materials that are useful for more than one math concept, work well for problem solving activities and are tough enough to withstand constant play
Teaching math vocabulary - learn how to teach math vocabulary and specific words as you demonstrate math activities and talk to your students about their math experiences.
Attribute blocks - how to use these math manipulatives for different features: shape, color, size and thickness to help promote logical thinking
Graphing 1 - how to teach graphing to preschool and kindergarten children, includes collecting data and organizing it in a variety of ways
Graphing 2 - more graphing ideas for young children
Measurement - how to find measurement to young children, find opportunities for students to order objects by size, color, shape...
Number Activities - how to provide experiences that build number sense
Number Games - how to improve children's number sense with easy games
Number Skills - what number skills do children need to know?
Pattern 1- how to teach children pattern concepts
Pattern 2 - ideas and games to teach children to recognize, create, copy and extend patterns
Pattern 3 - teach patterning skills to early childhood and preschool students
Sorting and classifying- how to teach children the important skills of sorting, comparing and classifying objects
Math & Literature Connections - how to combine math and literature, learn how to promote math skills as you share good literature
Ten Apples Up on Top - open-ended math activity with Dr. Suess
10 Little Rubber Ducks - ideas to promote math with this wonderful Eric Carle story
1, 2, 3 to the Zoo - another great Eric Carle book, practice counting, making number sets, ordinal numbers and more