Bedtime Math Launches Cuddly Campaign to Address Urgency of Early Math Skills

More than 30,000 children marching and “math-ing” in over 500
schools and libraries nationwide

SUMMIT, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bedtime
Math, a national nonprofit known for its mission to make math a fun
part of kids’ everyday lives, launched March
of the Stuffed Animals, a free program offered throughout the month
of March that provided preschoolers a rare, groundbreaking introduction
to basic math skills – all with the help of their favorite stuffed
animals.

Children marched in a Stuffed Animal Parade and conducted their own
Crazy Creature Census, where they practiced counting, comparing sizes
and grouping – essentially learning basic statistics in a playful,
relaxed environment. More than 30,000 children participated in over 500
schools and libraries nationwide.

“Kids build their math ability at a surprisingly young age – that’s
their big opportunity. The MRI brain scans of 8-year-old children
predict future math ability better than any standardized math skills or
memory tests,” said Bedtime Math founder Laura Overdeck, citing a recent
Stanford study. “And yet only 14% of parents with preschool children do
math at home. It’s urgent that we expose the next generation to playful,
approachable math early in life, so they can build the brain structure
to succeed in school.”

Bedtime Math provided instructions on how to run the math activities, as
well as copies of Bedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out, Overdeck’s
third best-selling children’s book. Most notably, participants went home
with parent flyers about Bedtime Math’s app, which was recently shown by
a University
of Chicago study to increase kids’ math skills by several months in
just one school year.

“Providing an engaging and encouraging climate for children’s early
encounters with math is so important,” said John T. Rich, executive
director of Sarah Ward Nursery School in Newark, New Jersey, one of the
participating preschools. “Using positive experiences in math to solve
problems helps children to develop dispositions such as curiosity,
imagination, flexibility, inventiveness and persistence, which
contributes to their future success in and out of school. We can’t thank
Bedtime Math enough for helping us show our kids that math can be fun,
and how it becomes a part of their life.”

Bedtime Math plans to offer a similar preschool program again in fall
2016.

For more information about March of the Stuffed Animals, or to speak
with Bedtime Math founder Laura Overdeck, contact Sandy LoPiccolo at
908-444-4532 or sandy@bedtimemath.org.

About Bedtime Math Foundation

Bedtime Math Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to put
the fun and discovery back into learning math. Its core product is a
zany online math problem that parents can do with their kids every day;
a recent study
from the University of Chicago showed that when families do Bedtime Math
together, kids’ math skills improve by months. Bedtime Math is also the
creator of Crazy 8s, a lively, hands-on after-school math club that has
donated more than 6,000 club kits nationwide, serving more than 80,000
children. For more information, visit www.bedtimemath.org.

Contacts

Bedtime Math Foundation
Sandy LoPiccolo, 908-444-4532
Director
of Communications
sandy@bedtimemath.org