A list of the best children’s books and videos for teaching measurement in the primary classroom. Teachers and students will enjoy learning this important math skill with these top choices.
When you use books and videos to teach, you’re making learning fun for kids, which can help make the lesson more memorable. Need a list of the best children’s books and videos for teaching measurement to kids? The characters in these measurement books and videos will help kids relate to the learning experience, showing them how the skill can be used in real-world situations.
Children’s Books and Videos for Teaching Measurement
Knowing measurement is an important skill that kids need to know. Books and videos are great teaching tools that parents and teachers alike can use to teach kids all about measurement. This helps make learning fun and interactive, which creates a memorable learning experience. If you want to teach measurement, here’s a collection of children’s books and videos you can use!
Children’s Books for Teaching Measurement
When it comes to learning measurements, books are great teaching tools! When kids read books to learn about measurement, they get a chance to see important vocabulary words, such as length and weight, inches and centimeters, pounds and temperature. Books also give kids a fun and relatable way to see how measurement is used in real life.
1. Measuring Penny
Lisa, the main character in this book, has a homework assignment … she needs to measure something using different units of measurement! To complete the assignment, she decides to measure her dog, Penny. She discovers how long Penny’s nose and tail are, how wide her paw is, and more!
2. Me and the Measure of Things
All things measurement are covered in Me and the Measure of Things. Kids will learn all about measuring weight, size, and length, as well as the different units that are used for these measurements. After reading this book, kids will be excited to measure things around the house and classroom!
3. How Long or How Wide?
This book of measurement covers it all, from how to measure things along with the difference between metric & U.S. units of measurement. Brian Cleary, the author of How Long or How Wide, uses rhyming text, humor, and kid-friendly examples to describe a difficult math concept in a way that kids can understand.
4. Super Sand Castle Saturday
The beach is such a fun place to go, which is why it makes the perfect setting for an educational book. Readers will relate to the setting as the characters have a sand castle contest at the beach. The friends in the book use different items to measure their sand castles to decide who won the contest, which is finally decided after the lifeguard teaches them about how a tape measure can help.
5. Just a Little Bit
There are opposites when it comes to measurement. Tall and short, wide and thin, heavy and light … elephant and mouse. Mouse and Elephant are the characters in Just a Little Bit and they learn how their measurements make it difficult to play on a seesaw together. Thankfully, the difficulty with the difference in weight doesn’t stop these friends from having a good time.
6. Ants Rule: The Long & Short of It
The Blowout Bug Jamboree is coming up and it’s up to the ants to build a carnival ride for it! The ants need to figure out how many bugs will attend, along with their size, in order to build a ride that will work for everyone! Kids will love the story in this book as they learn about units of measurement, both standard and nonstandard, size comparison, and how to represent the measurement data.
7. How Tall?
When most people think of height, they think in terms of feet, inches, and even centimeters. But what about chipmunks? In How Tall, kids will learn about measurement and height in a wacky way. The author helps kids understand more about height with nonstandard units of measurement, such as how many chipmunks equals the height of a redwood tree.
8. If the Shoe Fits
What would you do with an old shoe? Probably something different than the main character in this book! In If the Shoe Fits, Albert the mouse is determined to make an old shoe into a clubhouse to play in. The only problem is, how can he get it into his playroom? Albert discovers more about measurements as he tries to figure out a way to make this old shoe fit.
9. Millions to Measure
When you think of a magician, do you think of measurements? In Millions to Measure, you will! Marvelosissimo is a mathematical magician who gets kids interested in measurement! Kids will learn about measurements for length, weight a volume using the metric system, and they’ll have fun doing so!
10. How Tall, How Short, How Far Away?
People have been using different units of measurement for centuries! Even before inches, feet and miles were standard units of measurement, ancient civilizations used other units to measure how tall, how short, or how far away things are. Kids will learn about the different ways things can be measured using both standard and nonstandard units of measurement.
Children’s Videos for Teaching Measurement
Videos are fun and interactive, which means they’re a great tool for teaching kids important math concepts. In these videos, kids will learn all about measurement, using interactive stories, short cartoons, and songs. Because of how fun they are, kids will beg to watch these videos over and over again, helping them remember what they need to know about measurement.
1. Nonstandard Measurement – Sid The Science Kid
Sid The Science Kid is a popular character that kids relate to. This favorite character is here to teach kids all about measurement! In this video, Sid’s dad gives him a ruler. This sparks Sid’s imagination, making him wonder if he could measure different things such as the yard, his house, and even a blue whale! He discusses this with his parents and discovers that there are larger rulers that can be used to measure bigger items.
2. Measure Length for Kids
Part of learning measurement is learning the vocabulary that goes with it. In this video, kids will learn all about measuring length. They will see how you can use different units of measurement to measure the length of smaller items. Hand span can be used for smaller measurements, such as books. Foot span can be used for slightly larger measurements, such as the length of a classroom. The cubit can also be used for larger lengths, such as tables.
3. Math for Kids: Measurement, “How Do You Measure Up”
In the video “How Do You Measure Up,” kids will learn about measurement with an interactive story. They’ll learn how bakers, butchers, carpenters, and even police officers use measurements to do their jobs. Since the video is interactive, the key vocabulary words are highlighted, drawing kids attention to them.
4. Introduction to Standard Measurement for Kids
This video is helpful for troubleshooting issues kids might have when they first learn how to measure items. The narrator shows a few different ways she measured her pencil, such as starting at the “1” on the ruler, using the centimeter side and even measuring the pencil at an angle. Consequently, she gets a different measurement each time, which tells her she’s doing something wrong. The video continues by showing the proper steps to take when measuring an item so that the correct measurement is taken.
5. Measurement Song
Songs are a great way to help kids remember important concepts. In this video, kids will learn the measurement song, which uses a catchy rhythm to teach all about measurements. This song includes measurement tools, such as rulers, thermometers, scales and more. It also makes sure kids know the important vocabulary that goes along with these tools, such as Fahrenheit, inches and even seconds.
Measurement Classroom Resources
Help your students learn how to measure and build different measuring skills with comprehensive, hands-on, and fun resources. Click any of the links below to purchase a resource for your classroom.
Measurement (Non-Standard) & Time (Hour) Kindergarten
Measurement (Non-Standard) & Time (Hour and Half-Hour) First Grade
Measurement (Metric & Imperial) & Time (Nearest 5 minutes & quarter hour) Second Grade
FREE Measurement Activity
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