Estimation & Measurement with Plastic Links: Link n' Learn

Do you have a bucket full of plastic links in one of your bins and wondering what can you possibly do with a huge pail of these colorful plastic links.

Your prayers have been answered!

These are 10 different measurement cards, in 8 x 10 as well as 5 x 8 that you can print out, laminate and set up "estimation stations" which your kids will enjoy. They will estimate the length of their hand, and then measure it, as well as their foot, arm and around their head. They'll measure the longest and shortest block in the classroom, and then go on a scavenger hunt to find objects that are 3, 5, 8 and 10 links long. They'll develop important skills with estimation and measurement, and you'll get to kick back and watch the kids do REAL MATH!

You can (and really should) use the answers from this activity to compile statistics about your class, and then use them to make all sorts of cool graphs.

This item is guaranteed to be aligned with some "common core" standard, but since I don't feel like looking it up, I'll leave it to you. I'm sure most of you have memorized them chapter and verse....

Please use this activity! It's really great for developing fine motor skills in your little ones, and they look so cute when they're trying to measure the distance around their heads with the links....