This week I’m releasing a new printable, my Valentine’s Day Measurement Activity, that supports children working on measurement skills.
But what is measurement, and why is it important for children to engage in measurement activities?
Measurement is the assignment of a numerical value to describe some characteristic of an object, such as its length or volume.
This printable Valentine’s Day Measurement Activity is for children who are ready to use a ruler to measure length in either inches or centimeters. (Children should have a good grasp of numbers before attempting this activity.)
While there are core academic skills at the heart of this activity, kids will be far too engaged with the delightful Valentine imagery to notice that they are “working.” This hands-on activity will feel like play!
For more Valentine printables, see my Valentine Activities for Kids page.
The developmental progression of measurement skills
An understanding of measurement begins early on when children compare one object to another. This may occur when a child asks for the bigger slice of cake or when they notice that one bag of groceries is heavier than another.
Later, children may measure objects using non-standard units, or units that are invented and will vary from person to person. For example, a child may use footsteps to measure the length of the floor or pencils to measure the height of their desk.
Ultimately, we want children to understand and use standard units of measurement, or units that are universally available and are the same size for everyone. These include units for length such as inches and centimeters, units for volume such as gallons and liters, and units for weight such as pounds and kilograms.
Using the Valentine’s Day Measurement Activity
With this activity, kids will work on measuring Valentine-related objects with a ruler. Options are included to measure objects in both inches and centimeters.
(Be sure to print the appropriate pages depending on whether you want your child to work with inches or centimeters.)
For example, kids will use the inches side of the ruler to discover that the heart is 5 inches tall.
When measuring with inches, kids will also find that some objects are measured in half inches, such as this heart stamp that measures 3.5 inches tall.
When measuring objects in centimeters rather than inches, all of the measurements will be in whole centimeters rather than half centimeters.
The teddy bear pictured below, for example, measures 15 cm tall.
Kids will record their measurements on a worksheet. (Separate worksheets are included for inches and centimeters.)
After measuring all the objects, kids will rank them in order from tallest to shortest.
As you can see, kids will practice lots of important skills with this one simple-to-prepare activity!
Want a copy of my Valentine’s Day Measurement Activity Pack?
Get it as part of the Valentine Printables Bundle.
Or get it as part of the Measurement Activity Packs Bundle.
Or get this product by clicking the button below!
More Valentine’s Day learning resources
More Valentine posts from Gift of Curiosity:
- Valentine Montessori activities
- Valentine’s Day Toddler Skills Pack
- Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Pack
- Valentine sensory bin
- Find the hearts Valentine’s sensory bin
- Valentine’s Printables Pack
- Valentine Bingo
For more Valentine ideas, check out my Valentine Activities for Kids page and my Valentine’s Pinterest board.
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