Measure the Worms - Easy Measurement Activity for Preschoolers

Inside: Easy measurement activity for preschoolers

“Mom, this worm is 4. And that worm is 2.”

When my 3yo could tell me the lengths of these worms in her own simple words, I knew this activity is a winner.

An effective way to introduce measurement to young children

In particular, this activity introduces children to the concept of non-standard unit measurements, a prior-knowledge for young children to grasp the abstract concept of measurement with standard units in the future.

Measuring the worms with connecting cubes — Measuring these worms with cubes, a non-standard unit of measurement

Related: This activity is wonderful for a spring/garden theme unit study!

What are standard and non-standard units of measurement?

Standard units of measurement are widely recognized units like meters, centimeters, inches or feet. Non-standard units of measurement involve measuring with objects that are not typically used. These objects can be random items in the environment like Duplo blocks, hands, paper clips, etc.

Setting up this activity

Draw earthworms of various lengths. (I intentionally included two worms of the same lengths.)
Set out some connecting cubes with this paper.
Now, invite your children to measure the length of each worm by building the cubes up to the same length as the worm. Feel free to demonstrate how to do that for children who are new to the idea of measurement.
For children who are comfortable with counting, ask them to count the number of cubes for each worm. Then model the way to express the length of these worms with non-standard units: “This worm is 8 connecting cubes long.”

Easy measurement activity for preschoolers

No connecting cubes?

We did a similar measurement activity using Duplo blocks. We love how Days With Grey uses magnetic tiles in this gross motor measurement activity too.

Ask these questions to explore comparative vocabulary and simple relationships between things (an important mathematical skill):