The words “long” and “short” may look very easy to understand but are quite difficult for little minds to comprehend. So how to teach the difference between long and short to kids? The article below has plenty of game activities to help you to teach your child this concept. Let’s begin!
What Is Long And Short?
When we say something is long or short, we assess its measurement. In simple words, we can say that when we measure an object or if we say that the object is long or short, it means that:
- We are talking about the length of the object.
- We are concluding that an object is longer or shorter than others.
Let’s understand long and short objects for preschoolers with the help of an example.
Take a look at the image given below:
In this image, a boy and a girl are holding a rope. The rope in the boy’s hand is longer than the rope in the girl’s hand, or the rope in the girl’s hand is shorter than the rope in the boy’s hand.
Teaching Long And Short To Children
Confused about how to teach your little one the concept of long and short? Here are some simple rules and ways in which you can teach your child this concept.
- Start by explaining the meaning of the terms “long” and “short” to your child.
- To make it easy for them, explain the meaning of the terms with their opposites: long and not long (short) and short and not short (long).
- Explain with the help of real-life examples to make it easy for your child to understand.
- Encourage children to compare two objects at every given opportunity.
- Allow your child to measure the objects using a scale or measuring tape.
- Let them practice learning and understanding the terms with the help of games and activities.
- Repeat revising the concept to help kids remember and internalise new concepts.
Activities That Will Help Your Child To Learn Long And Short
Here are some long and short activities for kindergarten kids that will help them learn the long and short concept.
1. The Hunting Game
Take your child to the park and ask them to hunt two same objects of different lengths, where one is long, and the other is short in length. For example, they can hunt for twigs of different lengths, leaves of the same tree that are different in length, etc.
2. Build A Tower
Ask your child to build two towers of different lengths using their building blocks. Help them understand how one tower is shorter than the other.
3. Circle The Longer Objects
Take a print of different objects which vary in length. Make sure that two objects are placed next to each other on the sheet. Ask your child to circle the one which is longer in length than the other.
4. The Ruler Game
Give your child a ruler and ask them to go around the house and search for five things that are longer than the ruler and five things that are shorter than the ruler. Your child will have a fun time running around the house to find things.
5. Shadow Game
On a sunny, take your child out and ask them to stand in the sun and look at their shadow. Next, ask your child to take a look at your shadow. Ask them which one is longer or shorter. Make your kids repeat the activity by asking them to measure the height of their toy’s shadow in the sun.
6. Sort The Objects
Gather five different objects, and make sure you have two of each object, making it a total of 10 objects. Ask your child to sort the objects by comparing the two similar objects and keeping them in different piles. So, one pile will be of short objects, and the other pile will be long objects.
7. Jump On The Call
Using tape, mark 6-7 lines on the floor. Make sure that your paste two tapes of different lengths next to each other in one line each. Now, ask your child to jump on the longer or shorter tape. For example, for the first line, you can ask them to jump on the tape that is longer in length; for the second line, you can ask them to jump on the tape that is shorter in length, and so on.
Learning about the concept of longer and shorter is important for kids as it helps them to compare objects and also helps them academically when they study this in detail. The activities mentioned above are excellent and will help your child to understand the concept of long and short.
Also Read:
Concept of Tall and Short for Preschoolers
Inside and Outside Concept for Preschoolers
Concept of Thick and Thin for Kindergarten Kids
