Fold for Fractions!

What You Need:

• 8 ½ x11 plain white paper
• Colored pencils
• Lined notebook paper

What You Do:

1. Begin by asking your child what equivalent means. If they're having trouble, help them find a familiar word within the word (“equal”). To gauge how clear or unclear they are on the concept, ask them to explain it to you. You can even mention that you can't remember the concept from when you were in school, and that you would love a refresher course from them. This may relieve whatever pressure your child may feel if they are uncertain about the concept. Tell them that you will work together to figure it out.
2. Give your child the piece of 8 ½ x 11 paper. Have them hold it horizontally (if your child confuses horizontal with vertical, tell them that horizontal is like the horizon). Have them fold the paper in half, then open it up again, and ask them to shade in half the paper using a colored pencil.
3. Tell your child to now fold the paper into fourths (i.e. half, then half again). Ask your child to open up the paper. Ask them how many fourths are equivalent to one half. When your child figures out that 2/4 = 1/2, encourage your child to write this equation on the lined piece of notebook paper for future reference and review.
4. Repeat Step 3, but go on to fold it into eighths and then sixteenths, each time having your child write down the fractions that are equivalent to 1/2.
5. As an extension activity, you can have your child write down all the other equivalent fractions they see, like 2/8 = 1/4 and 2/16 =1/8, etc. You can continue this activity with thirds, sixths, twelfths and twenty-fourths. You child will be surprised by how fractions that look big and "scary" as actually the very same fractions that they are familiar with!