Introducing fractions - Explaining Half

This one was very interesting for my child. She took time to understand my gestures as I was showing what half really means, but, once she could catch up to it, she answered all my twisted questions about what half is quite correctly.

I made the following pieces of rectangles, by using A4 sheet and different colours for each of it. Second step is to show another A4 cut into same number of pieces but with no colour so that she can relate to the concept of half without colour differentiation. Obviously, kids will recognise them as well. It is never too early for the kids to learn new concepts and it is never too late for us to learn new ideas.

Following are the ways I tried to explain what half is:

• Showed what half a rectangle is with my hand put at the center of it
• Then over lapped one of the halves separated by my hand with its half sized rectangle
• Told her this is what it means, when I say, half A, half amma for anything
• Overlapped a smaller sized paper (not half) and told her it didn't occupy the entire half, it is  another smaller piece and asked her to pick the one that occupied half of the parent rectangle)
• Showed what half means using building blocks too so that she can relate this concept to various objects(not confined to just coloured papers)
•  I use the word half not just by my mouth but a conscious mind and make her conscious too of my usage of the word 'half' by showing her how I cut a roti/dosa to half
• Show her and ask her to fold a piece of paper to half

You could also paste these cut papers on cardboard for preserving them better.