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Estimation jars are a fun and easy way to practice math skills.
I’ve been teaching my son this skill in the grocery store. He’s been using a calculator or a pen and paper and adding up our grocery bill as we walk through the store. I round up to the nearest dollar as I go and have shown him how to do this to estimate our total at the checkout.
It got me thinking about how to continue this at home throughout the upcoming school year. I came up with a list of 101 Estimation jar ideas and some printables you can use as a math center, to go along with it.
I use a large glass estimation jar, but you can use anything you have as long as it’s clear and your kiddos can see the contents, preferably from all angles.
A tic-tac container is a quick and easy estimation tool. They are clear so their contents are easily visible, and the candy is colorful and fun for them to look at and eat when you’re done estimating the container’s contents!
Estimation jar activities can be as simple as a tic-tac container. But, another fun way to add estimation math to your homeschool is to include it in activities like Measuring the Mayflower.
101 Ideas for your Estimation Jar
My estimation jar ideas list includes some bigger items, like rubber ducks and wooden blocks, that I feel will be good for the beginning of the year when we’re still stretching out our “summer” brains. And, big items are perfect for young children.
Using some bigger items will allow my Kindergartener to really participate.
I plan to change the jar’s contents out each week and make it part of our weekly math routine. I hope these ideas give you some inspiration for the upcoming year.
- Rubber Ducks
- Marshmallows
- Sunflower Seeds
- Mini-marshmallows
- Pom-poms
- Cheerios
- Kix
- Beads
- Paper clips
- Legos
- Straws
- Peanuts
- Plastic milk jug lids
- Soda tabs
- Cotton balls
- Clothespins
- Spools of thread
- Marbles
- Pencil Erasers
- Safety Pins
- Plastic Eggs
- Dominoes
- Crayons
- Mini Candy bars
- Hershey Kisses
- Gummy Bears
- Canning rings
- Dice
- Counting Bears
- Craft Sticks
- Scrabble tiles
- Old Keys
- Buttons
- Chess Pieces
- Checker Pieces
- Toothpicks
- Rubber bands
- Corks
- Bread Tabs or ties
- Toilet paper rolls
- Hair ties
- Barrettes
- Toy soldiers
- Nerf bullets
- Puzzle pieces
- Pennies or other coins
- Plastic silverware
- Matchbox cars
- Fridge magnet letters
- Foam letters
- Pine cones
- Poker Chips
- Playing cards
- Wooden blocks
- Bouncy balls
- Ping pong balls
- Dry beans
- Golf balls
- Golf Tees
- Jelly beans
- Popcorn
- Popcorn Kernels
- Silk flowers
- Markers, pens, or pencils
- Shower curtain rings
- Socks
- Hair curlers
- Elbow noodles
- Foam peanuts
- Gift Wrap Bows
- Seashells
- Gumdrops
- Caramel
- Hard Candy
- M&M’s
- Nuts, bolts, nails
- Q-tips
- Googly eyes
- Swedish Fish
- Rice
- Bottle Caps
- Sugar Cubes
- Ketchup Packets
- Pretzels
- Lollipops
- Raisins
- Bingo Chips
- Gum Balls
- Cookies
- Biscotti
- Tea bags
- Hot cocoa packets
- Ink Stamps
- Lincoln logs
- Duplo bricks
- Clean sponges
- Band-aids
- Dollar bills
- Clementines
- Lemons
- Limes
Free Printable Estimation Jar Center
My free estimation printables include:
- Estimation slips
- Estimation center mat
- Sentence strips to use estimation vocabulary
A focus of this activity is to help my kiddos express their thought process as they estimate the jar’s contents. So, I included some estimation vocabulary words in the printables and space to write about how they got to the number they chose.
Grab your FREE PRINTABLES HERE in my shop!
Are you looking for more estimation jar ideas? Check out this list of Fall Estimation Jar Ideas.
Heidi
Great idea!!!
Thank You Missy! I am so excited to use some of these ideas this school year:)