Measuring with the Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

We have been working on measuring lately. The Foot Book inspired us to measure our feet and then use our feet to measure lots of other things. Amazon affiliate links are included below.

The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

The Foot Book is a classic Dr. Seuss book. Lots of rhyming and learning about opposites as you meet different feet! “How many, many feet you meet.”

Measuring with a Ruler

First we traced Aiden’s feet. Then, I labeled them with left and right.

Next Aiden measured his feet. They were 5 1/2 inches long.

We talked about where to place the ruler:

Match the zero mark on the ruler to the end of his foot {in this case his big toe}.
Find the place on the ruler where the other end of his foot is.
Determine what numbers are close by. For Aiden, his foot was over 5 inches but under 6 inches. It hit the half way mark. I showed him that the long line in between two numbers means half. His foot was 5 and a half inches long.

Non-standard Measuring with Feet

Non-standard measuring involves measuring the length {or width} of an object using a non-standard unit. You can pick the non-standard unit to use – blocks, pennies, paper clips, etc. – as long as your unit of measure is the same size. We chose to use Aiden’s feet.

This part is designed to get kids moving around just a bit. Choose an object to measure – a bed, a chair, the couch, a wall, etc. Have your child place one foot in front of the other and measure how many “feet” long the object is.

Aiden measured the chair. It was 6 Aiden feet long. The first few times we did this I had to show Aiden exactly where to put his feet and how to move them.

Choose a new object to measure {maybe one in another room?} and repeat the process. Continue having fun measuring with your feet.

More Activities to Practice Measuring

Try out this easy cars and blocks measuring experiment.
Launch cars to practice measuring.
Join our Fun with Rulers science challenge.
See all of our measuring activities.

More Dr. Seuss Inspired Activities

Green Eggs and Ham – make a real green eggs and ham omelette with no food coloring and enjoy some pretend play with play dough.
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? – Go on an outdoor sound hunt inspired by this favorite Dr. Seuss book.
Check out 20 math activities inspired by Dr. Seuss.
See all of our Dr. Seuss inspired ideas.

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