4 Fun Ideas for a “Peg + Cat” Family Night

Everywhere you look, math is all around … and so are the opportunities to practice math with your child in fun ways. Many know the importance of supporting literacy skills at home, like taking time to read with a child. The same is true for math — practicing early math skills at home is a key part of learning how to think critically and solve problems!

Support learning at home by hosting “Peg + Cat”-inspired family fun nights. This PBS KIDS series follows the adorable, spirited Peg and her sidekick Cat as they embark on adventures, inspiring preschoolers to see math as exciting and something they can do.

Here are a few totally amaaazing ideas that add up to family fun!

Practice math while making Peg’s Perfect Pizzas! As you make the pizzas, introduce your child to math concepts like counting, measuring, and telling time. Help them build their math skills with simple math problems, like asking them to count how many toppings they’re putting on their pizza, or sharing what “half” means as you cut the pizzas. After dinner, gather everyone to play the Giant Pizza Party Game.

Explore creativity while practicing math skills with simple materials you have at home. From twig pencils to puppet theaters, have fun with these five simple and inexpensive activities:

• Create your very own twig pencil (perfect for solving problems!) with Peg’s Writing Twig.

• Get crafty — and stay warm — with a Peg yarn hat.

• If your little problem solver needs a totally awesome ukulele, you can make one out of paper plates.

• Build “Peg + Cat" stick puppets and a special puppet theater.

• Work together to make a fun Cat beanie.

Take family game night up a notch by planning a Family Math Night. Practice counting to ten with the Perfect 10 Card Game. Create your own die and practice simple math games with Peg’s Giant Dice Game. Help Peg, Cat, and the pirates collect peaches with this Pirates and Peaches Board Game made out of a recycled cereal box.

After playing some games, it might be time for a snack. This “Great Banana” Fruit Salad is delicious and helps children practice counting, dividing, and sharing.

Mix up dough for soft pretzels with a few simple ingredients! Your child can help you as you measure the flour and warm water. After kneading the dough, work together to shape the dough to make numbers, addition, subtraction, and equals signs. After the pretzels are baked and have cooled, help your child practice simple math problems before eating this tasty treat! (Select two of the pretzel numbers and an addition or subtraction sign and talk about the sum of the pretzel problem.)

Just like Peg and Cat show young viewers how math can be empowering, you can show your child how your family can have fun together while learning early math skills. Problem solved!