Teaching math can be challenging, but it can also be a lot of fun! When teaching young kids, being able to make the learning interesting and hands-on results in children remembering what they learned. Below I am sharing the best estimation activity for kids that I have used in my own classroom.

One of my favourite activities that I did with my class this year was our Estimation Station. This activity is easy to incorporate into any classroom and because of the amount of math concepts and student engagement that results from this activities, it’s worth integrating into your program.

I will always have an Estimation Station in my classroom!

This activity works well in a classroom setting, or can easily be done at home for homeschooling or distant learning. For another idea to make math more fun and engaging, check out the popular collection of Math talks for young children here.

Best Estimation Activity for Kids

I found setting this activity up easy to do and it created a routine in my classroom. Every Monday I had our Estimation Station jar filled with something different. The weekly items varied from seasonal items to simple toys that I had in the classroom. Keep it simple and use what you have on hand.

My favourite part of the activity was on Mondays when children would quickly check when they came into the classroom what the station was filled with for the week. They were always so excited!

On Fridays we counted the amount of items in the jar. I used a plastic container, but any clear container will work.

How to Set Up an Estimation Station

Every Monday morning, fill the estimation station with something different. I used a clear plastic container and used whatever I had on hand. You can use anything – from cotton swabs or marbles to apples and stones, anything you have a collection of will work.

In my classroom, I had a class list near our jar. Over the course of the week children would estimate how many items they thought were in the jar.

They verbally gave a short explanation as to how they got their estimate, and then printed their estimate below their name on the page.

This activity can easily be done in the classroom, for homeschooling or for online learning.

I made sure to vary the size of the objects from week to week so that students began to notice that a jar half full of marbles is not the same amount as one half full of apples. It’s a great visual for children to see and then understand.

Some weeks I switched up our jars. One week I filled three jars with clothes pins, and I told children the total number of items in two jars combined. They then compared the amount in the unknown jar to the two they knew.

Children could see that the jar with the unknown amount was about half way between the full jar and the jar with 21 pins. They then figured out that their estimate should be between 21 and 78. If children estimated somewhere between these two numbers, it is a good estimate and children are something some understanding of estimation.

Best Estimation Activity for Kids

A few other ideas of how to switch up the estimation station, include, covering part of the jar and estimating based on the visible amount. Also, having the items create layers and telling students how many cubes are in one layer.

When we were working on addition, I set out two jars for students to estimate how many were in each. They then added the two jars to find the total. Start with simple numbers and amounts and build throughout the year.

Our estimation station was always a focal point in our room and was part of our daily math.

Math Talks using Estimation

Fridays were always my favourite! The kids were always so excited to find out the actual amount in the estimation station. They were excited to know how close their estimate was.

There was a lot of learning that then happened during this math period as we counted. A highlight for me was that my students didn’t even feel like they were doing math. They were engaged and excited to do the activities.

Every Friday, lay out a number line or place number cards in a line. If you are doing this with a group, give each child a square with their name on it. When you’re ready to count the items children placed their name on the number line to mark their estimate.

Next, count all of the items in the jars. I brought each item out one by one and we counted them together as I set them on ten frames.

Estimation Follow Up

Depending on the day, we then did a variety of things! We talked about who had the closest estimate and children calculated how far away their estimate was from the actual amount.

Some days, we counted our items in the ten frames by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 25s. We discussed if our numbers were even or odd. We also represented our numbers in base ten blocks and tally marks.

The math that the estimation station encourages is endless. My students became amazing estimators by the end of the year!

Since this was a weekly activity, having an opportunity to reinforce these key math concepts on an ongoing basis was beneficial. It is also something most children will look forward to.

Estimation Extension Ideas

Depending on how much time you have to explore your estimation station, another option for some extra math is looking at all of the estimates from the children and plotting them on a number line.

You can also use all of the estimates and have children put them in order from least to greatest.

I found that the estimation station was really easy to incorporate into any math unit we were doing at the time. When we were talking about 3D geometry, I filled the estimation station with 3D solids/shapes.

This way when kids were estimating they were talking about the shape names and recognizing them in the container.

It has successfully been used in my primary classroom on an ongoing basis with great success!

I often had my students complete a Estimation Station Worksheet to further their understand of the math we were covering. The math worksheet I created and used is available through my shop. The worksheets are based on the estimation activity described above.

Click the image below for more information or to purchase the Estimation Station worksheets. Sheets can be used for any Estimation Station and include representing numbers in ten frames, number lines and base 10 blocks.

Best Estimation Activity for Kids

Join Hands On Teaching Ideas

Following up this activity, and other math activities with a math worksheet word search will also keep kids having fun while learning. A free math word search printable is in the free resource library. Subscribe to Hands-on Teaching Ideas by subscribing through Grow below. Once you subscribe you will receive a link to the Free Library with over 100 free resources for you to download, print and use!