20 Hands on Activities to Practice Measurement Conversion
Teaching measurement conversions can be challenging—students mix up units, forget which unit is larger or smaller, and struggle to see why it even matters. What if I told you that learning conversions could be interactive, hands-on, and even fun?
In this post, I’m sharing 20 engaging ways to teach customary and metric conversions that will get your students thinking, moving, and making real-world connections.
Whether you’re looking for individual activities, small group activities or whole class activities, these ideas will help your students master conversions in a way that actually sticks.
Board Game
Create a simple board game where students solve measurement conversion questions to move forward. You can create your own question cards or use a set of task cards with questions about metric or customary conversions. Students can play with a partner or in small groups.
The metric conversion game shown in the picture above can be found HERE. It includes a game board and 32 question cards.
CLICK HERE to see a similar game practicing customary conversions.
Customary vs. Metric Sort
Give students a mix of measurement cards (e.g., inches, liters, meters, grams, pounds) and have them sort them into customary and metric categories.
Another way to use the same set of cards is to have students sort them into measurements of length, volume, or weight.
Measurement Memory
Create pairs of cards where one card shows a measurement in one unit (like meters) and its match shows the equivalent measurement in another unit (like centimeters). For example: one card with 1000 meters and another card with 1 kilometer, one card with 36 inches and another card with 1 yard).
Students play a memory game by finding equivalent pairs. This game can be played in small groups or with a partner.
Measurement Conversion Task Cards
Place measurement conversion task cards around the room. Students move from one card to the next, solving each problem and recording their answers.
You can arrange the cards in a clearly visible path around the room, or hide them throughout the room to create a scavenger hunt for kids to find and solve each card.
The task cards shown in the photo above are from my set of 28 customary conversion task cards. I also have a set of 28 metric conversion task cards in my store.
Cooking conversions
Give students recipe cards where ingredients are listed in grams and/or milliliters and have them convert the amounts to kilograms and liters. For example: students would convert 180 g flour to 0.18 kg of flour, and 200 mL milk to 0.2 L milk)
Estimate, Measure, Convert
Give students a list of items found in the classroom. Students will first estimate the length, weight, or volume of the different objects on the list.
Then they will use tools to measure them accurately, and finally convert the measurements to another unit.
Matching Puzzles
Use a matching puzzle where students pair equivalent measurements (e.g., 16 ounces = 1 pound, 1 meter = 100 cm) to reinforce their understanding of measurement conversions.
This is a great self-checking activity. Students will know if they have an answer incorrect if there is not a matching piece with their answer on it.
The metric conversion puzzle shown above can be found in my TPT store.
CLICK HERE to see the customary conversion puzzle.
Which One Doesn’t Belong?
Give students 4 measurements. They need to decide which one doesn’t belong and be able to explain their reasoning.
An example would be: 9 inches, 1 foot, 6 inches, and 18 inches.
One student might argue that 1 foot doesn’t belong because it is the only one not shown in inches. Another student may argue that 18 inches doesn’t belong because it is the only measurement greater than a foot.
Card Sort
Create a set of cards with different sets of equivalent measurements on them. (1 measurement per card)
Students need to sort the cards into groups/piles that show equivalent measurements.
For example, they would create one group with the cards 18 inches, 1.5 feet, and 0.5 yard and a second group with 4 cups, 1 quart, 2 pints, and 0.25 gallon.
Vary the difficulty with more/less cards and more/less sets of equivalencies.
Measurement Mystery
Set up a mystery to solve where students must solve measurement conversion problems to unlock clues, narrow down solutions and crack the case.
Adding the mystery storyline and a case to solve gives students a purpose for solving the questions and increases student excitement and engagement.
Grab ready to use task card mysteries for metric and customary conversions in my store.
Would You Rather
Pose fun comparison questions like, “Would you rather eat 250 grams of broccoli or 2.5 kilograms of broccoli?” and have students justify their answers using conversions.
Someone who loves broccoli may choose 2.5 kg, while someone who dislikes broccoli may choose 250 grams.
Students need to complete the measurement conversion and make a comparison before deciding on their answer.
Length Line UP
Give students a set of cards with different lengths written on them. Have them arrange the cards in a line from shortest length to longest length. You could create one set with customary measurements and another set with metric measurements.
Color by Number
Kids love to color. Use measurement conversion color by number activities to practice conversion skills, fine motor skills, while also giving students a chance to be creative.
The color by number pages in the photo are from my math skill builder resources. Each skill builder includes 7 different practice pages. Learn more about each skill builder using the links below.
Measurement Conversion Dominoes
Create a set of domino cards where one half shows a measurement and the other half shows a different measurement (something not equivalent to the other half of the card, but that IS equivalent to a measurement on another card).
Students connect dominoes so the paired measurements are equivalent after conversion (e.g., 2.5 meters connects to 250 centimeters).
Hands on Exploration
Bring in a set of measuring cups and different sized containers (quart, pint, gallon). Have students use the 1C measuring cup to see how many cups it takes to fill a quart, a pint etc..
For an extra challenge, have them continue the exploration using the 1/2C measuring cup. How many ½ cups are in a pint, a quart etc…
Google Forms
Google forms are a quick and fun way to see what students know and what they need more work on. Create open ended questions or multiple choice questions based on your students needs.
Google forms are great because they give you, the teacher, immediate feedback on how each student did individually and how the class did as a whole.
Looking for ready to use Google Form activities perfect for 4th grade and 5th grade? My Google Forms resources each include 4 different Google Forms with 10 questions each. Perfect for practice, review, or assessments!
Scavenger Hunt
Give students a sheet with a list of things in the classroom to measure. Students measure each item, record the measurement on their sheet, then convert it to another measurement. For example, you may ask students to measure a pencil in centimeters, then convert their measurement to millimeters.
Matching Cut and Paste
Students cut out pieces with different measurements on them and glue them onto the main page underneath the equivalent measurement. Having matching measurement choices to choose from helps students self-evaluate and self-check their understanding as they work.
The ‘Math Clips’ activity you see above is part of my customary conversion math clips set. It comes with 4 different cut and paste matching practice pages.
You can see the metric version of this resource HERE.
RElay
Put students into small groups. Set up a table with different measurement conversion problem cards. One student from each group races to the table to get a card. They then bring it back to their group and solve the conversion together.
Continue this with different students going to the front to grab a card each time. You can choose how many cards you expect each group to complete.
Students race in teams to be the first to complete the conversions correctly or to solve all the conversions within a set time limit.
Worksheets
Sometimes a print and go worksheet is just what is needed to get in a little extra practice!
Use worksheets specific to the type of measurement conversion practice your students need additional work with, or use a combination of practice worksheets to do a thorough review.
The worksheets in the image are from my skill builder math packets. Each skill builder comes with seven different practice pages, including word problems, test prep multiple choice, and a fun page like color by number, riddles or mazes.
I hope that this post gave you some new activity ideas that you can add to your measurement conversion lesson plans!
Want to see all of my measurement conversion resources organized in one place? CLICK HERE!
