Twelve Snails to One Lizard Measurement Activities for Kids

Measurement can be a tricky concept to introduce to kids. Present new material in a fun and relevant way with literature!

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This post is part of the Booking Across the USA series organized by Growing Book by Book. Bloggers from all around the country are going to represent their state by sharing an author who also lives there.

We chose Matt Novak to represent Pennsylvania! Mr. Novak is an author, illustrator, puppeteer, teacher, and a former Disney artist! We read the book Twelve Snails to One Lizard which Matt Novak illustrated. We love his artwork!

In Twelve Snails to One Lizard the animals compare different units of measurement. My kids explored with a ruler and we discussed how twelve inches make a foot just as twelve snails measure one lizard in the book.

Our preschooler needed me to remind her to place the end of the ruler next to the edge of what she was measuring. She spent some time practicing using the ruler by measuring objects around the house. Our toddler loved pointing to and identifying the numbers he knew on the ruler!

I asked our preschooler to estimate and measure the feet of each person in our family. She did a wonderful job of lining up each foot correctly. We discussed comparative terms like longest and shortest as she made her guesses about the size of our feet! Just look at that chubby toddler foot that she is measuring so precisely!