Evening · Life skill

Teach them how to read a tape measure

Sixteenths, eighths, the difference between 3' and 3". A real skill in 20 minutes.

20 min ages 7–12· Screen-free

How to do it

Pull out the tape measure. Show them the big numbers (inches), then the marks in between — half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth. Measure five things together: the table, their foot, the book they're reading, the doorway, your forearm. Call out a target like '3 and 7/8 inches' and have them mark it on the tape. Then flip to centimeters and do it again.

What you'll need

A tape measure
Free