At our house, we always welcome a few tricks for learning important stuff … and measurements are just one of those things every child needs to know. I don’t recall where I first saw this idea, but I’ve used it with great success for all four of my kiddos. On a sheet of paper, I would draw a huge G for gallon, and inside of that make four Qs (to stand for four quarts in a gallon), add two Ps inside each Q, indicating that there are two pints in every quart, then put two Cs in each P, showing there are two cups in every pint. Once that is drawn out, it’s easy for kids to count up the Cs to know there are 16 cups in a gallon, or count the Ps to know there are 8 pints in a gallon, etc.
Instead of drawing out this illustration each time, I thought it would be helpful to create a puzzle activity that kids can use over and over. With this download, you’ll just need to print and cut out the pieces to create a hands-on activity that teaches the relationship between the gallon, quart, pint, and cup liquid measurements we use here in the U.S.
Directions: Print all of the pages in the download. You can leave the complete puzzle intact, just as a guide for your child, and there’s also no need to cut anything out from the page with the large G. Cut apart all of the individual letters from the third page of the download. Then, laminate ALL of the pieces, including the two full pages and each of the Qs, Ps, and Cs. You may want to attach a round sticky piece of velcro (these 1cm stickers are small enough to fit the smallest pieces) to the back of each piece, and to the front of the G, Q, and P in the corresponding spots, and let your child work on assembling the puzzle.
Once they’ve had some practice with the hands-on part, use the cards — you can find a list of the questions below, and we’ve also included them on a parent key in the download — to help quiz your child on the measurements. I suggest printing the question cards on card stock, writing the answer on the back as an easy self-check, and laminating them for durability. That way, everything can be used over and over again. We’ve also included a blank card for those of you who want to create your own questions. (Maybe you want to use fractions like, “8 cups = 1/2 gallon,” and so forth.)
- How many quarts are in a gallon? (4)
- How many pints are in a gallon? (8)
- How many cups are in a gallon? (16)
- How many pints are in a quart? (2)
- How many cups are in a quart? (4)
- How many cups are in a pint? (2)
- 2 cups = ____ . (one pint)
- 4 cups = ____ . (one quart, or 2 pints)
- 8 cups = ____ . (2 quarts, or 4 pints)
- 16 cups = ____ . (8 pints, 4 quarts, or one gallon)
- 2 pints = ____ . (one quart)
- 8 pints = ____ . (one gallon)
- 4 quarts = ____ . (one gallon)
Download the FREE printable PDF:
Liquid Measurements Puzzle & Question Cards
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One last note: Here’s a fun variation on this same idea, that I thought was really clever and effective at helping kids remember the descending order of gallon, quart, pint, and cup measurements. Enjoy!
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