Measure the Worms – Hands-on Way to Introduce Measurement

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.

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.”

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):

• Which worm is the longest? Which worm is the shortest?
• Which two worms are of the same length?
• Which worm(s) is/are longer/shorter than this one?

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Here are more great non-standard units measurement activity ideas for preschoolers:

• Magnetic Measurements by Days with Grey
• Flower Height Measurement by Stay At Home Educator
• Measuring Hands and Feet by Little Bins Little Hands
• Measuring Dinosaurs by Pocket of Preschool

Pin this amazing activity for later!