Teaching Probability to Young Children: A Simple Guide

What is Probability?

Probability is the likelihood of a given event to occur, for example when flipping a fair coin there can only be 2 outcomes: heads or tails, thus it’s a 50/50 chance of either of the events occurring.

What are some Common errors encountered by children learning probability?

Probability is likely one of the more challenging concepts for children between the ages of 3 – 5 to grasp due to a number of factors such a limited vocabulary where terms such as “likely” “unlikely”, “possible”, “impossible” and other probability related terminology. Children in that age group are likely to have limited exposure to real life situations where probability is relevant which creates an additional barrier when learning the concept. The best approach is to keep it as simple as possible, while using visual aids and a hands-on approach where possible. Remember to ask your child to slow down and revisit the activity if they are not grasping it. Through patience and positive reinforcement, a rudimentary form of probability can be explored as a learning concept with your child. 

What is the benefit of learning Probability?

Introducing probability to children early allows for a valuable chance to help nurture their critical thinking, mathematical understanding and help set up a strong foundation for future learning. It may also help your child understand consequences of their actions more directly.

How to teach your child at home?

There are a few exciting and fun ways that probability can be taught:

This includes using a coin and flipping it and predicting which side it will land on. You can then count how many times it lands on heads and tails.

Similarly, this can be done with a 6-sided dice where your child is asked to estimate which number the dice is likely to roll on, these numbers can then be recorded and the number appearing most frequently can be counted.

Weather observation is a daily way you can incorporate the concept of probability wherever you go for a walk together. On the walk you can try asking your child questions about the weather. 

For example:

Do you think it’s going to rain?

Do you think it’s a big chance it’s going to rain or a small chance it’s going to rain?