In 3rd grade math, students continue to build on the foundational math skills they learned in previous grades. Now that they can add and subtract, they’ll learn to multiply and divide.
But that’s not all — there are plenty of other math skills and concepts to explore in third grade. Let’s look at what your child will learn this year.
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3rd Grade Math Skills
Math is a Core Skill, one of the 5 C’s — along with creativity, critical thinking, curiosity, and character — that comprise the Begin Approach to helping kids thrive in school and life.
Third grade math focuses on four primary areas, which we’ll explore below.
Multiplication and Division
By the end of third grade, your child will likely have memorized all multiplication facts from 0-9. They’ll work on quickly and accurately recalling the product of any two numbers within this range.
While this can seem daunting at the beginning of the year, remember that they don’t have to memorize them all at once! They’ll gradually build their multiplication fluency through consistent practice and hands-on activities.
In addition to learning multiplication, students will also practice division. They’ll learn how to use fact families to solve division problems. Fact families are just three numbers that are related through multiplication and division, such as:
- 2 x 4 = 8
- 4 x 2 = 8
- 8 ÷ 4 = 2
- 8 ÷ 2 = 4
When your child understands these relationships between numbers, they’ll be able to approach division problems with confidence.
Fractions
Last year, your child learned how to divide circles and rectangles into equal parts to create simple fractions. They’ll build on that knowledge in third grade by dividing wholes into even more pieces.
They’ll also learn how to compare those pieces using visual models. For example, they’ll discover that ¼ of a pizza is bigger than ⅙ of a pizza.
Your child will practice placing fractions on the number line to reinforce this concept. They’ll also learn new vocabulary terms such as:
- Denominator
- Numerator
- Equivalent
Area
All two-dimensional shapes have an area, which is the amount of space inside the shape. In third grade, your child will learn how to find the area by separating rectangular arrays into identical rows or columns. As they do so, they’ll discover the connection between multiplication and area.
This will set the framework for more complex area concepts in the future, such as finding the space inside composite shapes and irregular polygons.
Geometric Principles
Your third grader will discover how different shapes may share attributes. For example, squares and rhombuses both have four sides. They’ll also practice grouping shapes into categories based on those attributes. For example, squares and rhombuses are both quadrilaterals.
As they learn about geometric principles, they’ll discover how shapes can be manipulated and transformed. They’ll be introduced to concepts such as symmetry, reflection, and rotation.
Other 3rd Grade Math Skills
Of course, those four areas aren’t the only math skills covered in 3rd-grade math. Your child will also practice:
- Telling time to the nearest minute
- Using scaled pictographs and bar graphs to represent data
- Measuring objects to the nearest ½ and ¼ of an inch
- Finding the perimeter of polygons
- Solving word problems with all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division)
- Identifying patterns in math
By the end of the year, they’ll be ready to conquer even more complex math skills in 4th grade.
3rd Grade Math Learning Activities
Whew, 3rd-grade math covers a lot of ground! With so many concepts to learn, you’ll want to help reinforce your child’s understanding at home. Here are some fun math activities to try.
1) Cook Together
Fractions and cooking go hand-in-hand. Enlist your child’s help in the kitchen and let them do the measuring. As they do, they’ll gain a visual understanding of how fractions work.
For even more learning, ask questions like these as you cook together:
- How much milk would we need to add if we wanted to make more of this recipe and double it?
- Please get the ¼ cup measuring cup. Is that bigger or smaller than ½?
- How many ⅓ cup measurements do we need to make a whole cup?
If your child enjoys cooking, check out the Kitchen Adventures subscription from Little Passports by Begin. Each box includes kid-tested recipes, a hands-on activity, a kitchen gadget, and more.
2) Measurement Scavenger Hunt
Hand your child a tape measure, and set them off on a measuring adventure as they find objects of different lengths around the house.
Give them a list of things to look for, such as:
- An object taller than they are
- Something that’s 4 ½ inches long
- Something that’s between 12 inches and 15 ½ inches long
- An object that’s the same length as their foot
They can either write down what they find or take a picture of each one. They’ll work on their measuring and estimating skills as they work through the list.
3) Multiplication War
Play this simple card game to help your child practice their multiplication facts. It’s a variation of the game War.
Remove the face cards from a deck of playing cards and shuffle the remaining cards together. Then, divide the pile equally between two players.
Each player flips over two cards from their pile and quickly multiplies them together. The player with the highest product wins all four cards.
So if Player A flipped over a four and a six (24), and Player B flipped a seven and a five (35), Player B would add all four cards to the bottom of their pile.
If there’s a tie, flip two more cards. Then, whoever has the highest product gets all eight cards. Continue flipping and multiplying until one player has all the cards.
4) How Many?
Let your child practice their math skills by asking random “how many” questions that require multiplying or dividing.
For example, how many:
- Ears are in this house right now?
- Pieces of pizza did we just get delivered?
- Cookies does everyone get?
- Fingers are in the car?
- Action figures out of this pile do each of your three friends get to play with?
5) Read Math Books
Check your library for multiplication picture books and read them together.
Here are five of our favorites:
- Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander
- The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Multiplication Book by Jerry Pallotta (you may want to pick up some chocolate bars before reading this one!)
- The Best of Times: Math Strategies that Multiply by Greg Tang
- One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes
- How Do You Count a Dozen Ducklings? By Seon Chae
6) Build Block Towers
If your child likes building with blocks, challenge them to create fraction towers. Here’s how it works:
- Start with a long, skinny piece (such as a 1 x 12)
- Add two smaller, equal pieces on top to show halves (each a 1 x 6)
- Continue adding smaller bricks on top to show thirds (1 x 4), fourths (1 x 3), sixths (1 x 2), and twelfths (1 x 1)
Then, ask them to start with a different length base and see which sizes they need to build a new fraction tower. For example, if they start with a 1 x 10 block, what size do they need for each half?
7) Shape Search
Send your child on a quest to find different 2D and 3D shapes around the house. Then, have them sort them into categories based on shared attributes.
Here are some of the shapes you could ask them to look for:
- Cylinder
- Sphere
- Circle
- Square
- Rectangle
- Triangle
- Cone
- Cube
Have them bring each object back to a central location. Then, have them look carefully at each and divide them into groups based on their attributes. Finally, see if you can guess the unifying feature in each category.
Here are some possible categories they could sort the shapes above into:
- 2D and 3D
- Circular, rectangular, and triangular
- Curved and straight edges
8) Snack Arrays
Get out a small, snacky food your child enjoys (small crackers, chocolate chips, raisins, etc.) and ask them to build different multiplication arrays. After they’ve built a few, let them eat the snack as a treat.
Boost Math Skills with Begin
Mastering 3rd grade math skills doesn’t have to be boring! The hands-on activities above will help reinforce learning without making it feel like a chore.
For even more engaging learning, check out the award-winning products from Begin. From the HOMER app to monthly subscriptions through Little Passports, your child will have a blast while developing essential skills!
