Movement-Based Math Activities for Wiggly Kids
Movement math means doing math while your child moves. They jump and count each jump out loud. In our view, the movement should carry the math. Jump the number, not just jump. We hold no study of movement math done at home. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding that it does not help.
TL;DR
- Movement math means doing math while your child moves. In our view, the movement should carry the math. Jump the number, not just jump.
- Do these activities alongside your child's math instruction, not in place of it. These games are our own practice, not a tested method.
- A 2020 review pooled 42 studies of school lessons taught while children moved (Norris and colleagues, 2020). Most were in preschool or elementary school. Learning improved compared with usual lessons. Math was the subject studied most often. The review does not report a separate result for math. All the studies had some design weaknesses. None was done at home or by a parent.
- One preschool trial taught numbers with movement (Mavilidi and colleagues, 2018). Movement that was part of the number task worked better than unrelated movement. We could read only its summary.
- We hold no study of movement math done at home. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding that it does not help.
What movement math is
Some children would rather move than sit. If that is your child, math can move too.
Movement math means doing math while your child moves. A jump stands for a number. A clap marks a count. A hop picks the bigger number. Your child says the math out loud as they move.
A 2020 review calls school lessons like this active lessons (Norris and colleagues, 2020). An active lesson teaches school work while children move. The review gives an example: jumping jacks while saying times tables. An active lesson is not a break. A break is moving with no lesson in it.
Movement math activities to try
These games are our own. Do these activities alongside your child's math instruction, not in place of it. None needs special materials.
- Jump and say. Call out a number, like 6. Your child does that many jumps. They count each jump out loud. Then they say the number again. Try a new number.
- Hop to the bigger number. Put two sheets side by side, such as 3 and 8. Ask your child to hop onto the bigger number. Ask how they knew. Then swap in new numbers.
- Toss and count on. Stand a few steps apart with a soft ball. Say a number, like 5, and toss the ball. Your child catches it and says the next number, 6. They toss it back, and you say 7. Keep going. Then try counting back.
- Clap the twos. Count out loud together. Whisper 1, then clap and say 2. Whisper 3, then clap and say 4. The claps land on the twos. Later, try a clap on every fifth number.
- Hopscotch sums. Chalk a hopscotch with the numbers 1 to 9. Call out a total, like 7. Your child hops on two numbers that make 7. They say it as they hop: "3 and 4 make 7." Then write it down together: 3 + 4 = 7.
These steps are our own practice, not a tested method.
Our page Number Line Activities to Try at Home has more.
How to run it
- Keep each game short. Stop while it is still fun.
- Say the math out loud with every move. In our view, saying it is the part that matters most.
- Use the numbers your child is working on at school. Ask the teacher what they are.
- Treat a wrong landing as something to check together. Count the jumps and see.
- If your child would rather sit, that is fine. Paper and blocks work too.
- Keep practice apart from testing. In our view, if every bit of math is a test, avoiding it makes sense.
These steps are our own practice, not a tested method.
What the research we hold says, and where it stops
Nothing in the studies on this page tested a Learning Success program.
A 2020 review pooled 42 studies of school lessons taught while children moved (Norris and colleagues, 2020). Most were in preschool or elementary school. Classroom teachers taught most of the lessons. Learning improved compared with usual lessons. Math was the subject studied most often. The review does not report a separate result for math. All the studies had some design weaknesses. Few checked whether the gains lasted. None was done at home or by a parent.
One preschool trial taught numbers with movement (Mavilidi and colleagues, 2018). It had 120 children. Movement that was part of the number task worked better than unrelated movement. That movement also beat watching the moves, and learning sitting down. We could read only its summary. The summary does not say what the number tasks were. It does not say how long the gains lasted.
In our view, the movement should carry the math. Jump the number, not just jump.
We hold no study of movement math done at home. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding that it does not help.
When to ask for help
Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.
- Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
- Math well below your child's other schoolwork.
- A teacher who raises a concern about math.
- Extreme upset about math.
- Complete avoidance of math.
- Worry about math that spreads into the rest of learning.
- Sadness or worry that lasts.
- A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.
Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.
In the classroom
In our view, have children say the number with each move.
One sentence for an email home: "She hops to the bigger number up to 10 in class. What do you see at home?"
Lay three sheets of paper on the floor. Write 2, 7 and 4 on them. Ask your child to hop to the biggest number. Then ask for the smallest. You are not testing anything. You are watching how they choose. Do they look first, or count?
”What to do tonightWhat to use next
A set of questions you answer about what you see at home. A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing, or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too — that's the only route to those supports.
What sits underneath arithmetic, one skill at a time, worked alongside math instruction, not in place of it.
Common questions from parents
Does my child need to move to learn math?
No study we hold says so. The research on this page was of school and preschool lessons. None of it picked children for trouble with math. In our view, moving is one way to practice math, not a must. If your child would rather sit, that is fine too.
Is a movement break the same as movement math?
No. A 2020 review calls school lessons taught while moving active lessons (Norris and colleagues, 2020). An active lesson teaches school work while children move. A movement break is moving with no lesson in it. The review kept the two apart. This page is about the first kind. Our page "He Can't Sit Still" talks about breaks.
What if the game gets silly and the math gets lost?
In our view, the movement should carry the math. Jump the number, not just jump. Bring the math back by asking your child to say each number out loud. If the jumping has taken over, stop and try again another day. That is our own practice, not a tested method.