Creative Maths

Maths seems to be something that scares a lot of people..."I'm no good at maths" is the comment I hear so often and children soon pick up this attitude if they hear it. Early years maths can be so much fun and the most natural thing in the world. A good start can make such a difference to your child's maths confidence. Here are some age appropriate activities that you and your children can have fun with. I have split it up into sections based upon age and you might find it helpful but look at the age above and below activities because children develop at different rates and also need to revisit learnt things to embed them.

0 to 1 years

Research has shown that babies absorb information in order to make sense of the world around them so it is never too young to start introducing maths concepts...sound strange? It's really simple...

• Sing to baby...sing all the old favourite nursery rhymes...rocking and bouncing your baby as you sing. Look at www.nurseryrhymes.org for a list.
• Use treasure baskets containing different objects to explore such as natural objects, spoons, keys, blocks, scarves, musical instruments etc. (click on the treasure baskets label for some ideas)
• Play hiding and peep-bo games, hiding toys under a blanket etc.
• Include counting and mathematical words as you talk to baby.







   1 year to 2 years

• Matching one for you and one for me (picnics)
• Counting whenever you can in real life situations e.g. climbing the stairs, counting steps as they begin to walk, counting out food, toys.
• Matching pairs...young children love to shout "snap" and they quickly learn what it means.
• Sorting collections finding the same and different. I keep sorting objects in jars and zip bags ready to hand when needed. Some sorting objects become favourites like wild animal packs, dinosaurs, cartoon characters, buttons, natural objects like shells or pebbles. HEALTH WARNING...never leave young children alone with small objects that can be swallowed.
• Keep singing and introduce number rhymes such as 5 little speckled frogs, 5 little monkeys, two little dicky birds etc. I use toys to help with number songs, collecting characters from charity shops and car boots. Children learn better when they can handle the objects, moving them and re-enacting the song, or they become the characters and hop about!
• Share books that feature counting and other maths concepts such as sorting, same and different, shapes and comparing size.
• Playing with 3 dimensional shapes and containers, building and knocking down, filling and emptying  and sorting.    
• Everyday brings opportunities for toddlers to learn bout  numbers, counting, recognising shapes, sorting and matching.

                                                                      2 to 3 years

• Finger rhymes using fingers / finger puppets...rhymes such as Tommy Thumb, 12345 once I caught a fish alive
• Introducing more and less at meal times
• Sorting by size using traditional stories like Goldilocks and the three bears and sorting the washing from the clothes basket ...who's are these knickers?!
• Hide and seek to explore position...under, over, behind, inside, outside...
• Play dough can create a myriad of opportunities to talk and explore maths concepts...large, small pieces, shapes cutters, filling containers, heaviest and lightest, creating numbers with play dough, sharing...the list goes on and on.
• Explore interesting objects using treasure baskets and mystery boxes and bags...introduce a magnifying glass and slip some tactile numbers in too!
• Boxes are amazing...have you ever read 'My cat likes to hide in boxes'? Look at all different containers, how they open and close, what they contain, how much 'stuff' you need to fill the box?
• Send your toddler off to get 2 spoons, 3 biscuits ...multiple of things to see if they are beginning to understand 1 to 1 correspondence. And start to introduce adding 1 and taking 1 away.
• Make sure numbers 1 to 10 are visible around the house so your toddlers gets used to them. Point them out counting to 10 and use them in number songs and rhymes.

 A 1 to 10 banner for the bedroom or play area at home



This is a canvas I made simply by cutting and sticking counting pictures and numbers. It makes a lovely activity that can be often revisited, searching for different things to count and talk about. If you hang it on the wall make sure it is low enough to touch as counting includes touching.

3 to 4 years

• Use 3 dimensional shapes to create junk models so they can begin to explore what shapes build, balance, stack, how many faces? Continue to explore different and new objects looking at their shapes, size, what they are made of, how much they weigh etc.
• Create obstacle courses outside or, if you are brave, in the lounge to explore positional language...under, over, through, round, in etc.
• Search for numbers in the environment, on houses, car number plates etc. Use numbers to label things and have card / wooden numbers to handle and play with. Colour in numbers, cover numbers with play dough or collage materials, discuss their favourite number.
• Money play creating shops and café role play situations and experience real money through shopping and cafe's. We have a coin bottle for all our loose change and my grand daughter loves to help fill it from my purse. Do coin rubbings.
• Begin to introduce games where counting can be used such as hop scotch and what time is it Mr Wolf?
• Expand on simple adding and subtracting...how many more do you need?
• Counting songs and rhymes up to 10.
• Counting numbers of objects, introducing moving objects from one place to another as you count.
• Sharing to make it fair...one for me, one for you...count to make sure it's fair.
• Go on a shape sort in the environment...it's great when you fine triangles! (circle, square, oblong, triangle to begin with)
• Make sure solid shape names are used where appropriate...a cube is not a square...it has square faces. A ball is a sphere not a circle.
• Weighing and measuring can be explored when baking, cooking and crafting.
• Look for stories involving maths concepts such as Handa's Surprise by Eileen Brown when each type of fruit gradually disappears. The three bears have 3 bowls, 3 chairs and 3 beds.

 Finding numbers in the oats

Find the number treasure bottle





                                                                     
                                                                          4 to 5years

• Find big numbers in the environment   
• Collect lots of things and count them such as marbles, bottle tops, buttons, shells, fir cones...introducing number over 10
• Share shopping experiences letting them pay the shop assistant
• Cooking letting them weigh the ingredients
• Begin to introduce time linked to clocks and develop an understanding of the measurement of time including days, weeks, months, years, calendars, timetables etc.
• Explore further shapes in the environment
• Look for numbers everywhere and explore the use of numbers
• Explore addition and subtraction and multiples of things...counting in 2's, 5's and 10's
• Play dice games and learn to move forward, backwards and doubles. Recognising how the dice spots form patterns  that can be recognised at a glance.
• Other games including card games, skittles and safe darts.
• Encourage your child to estimate how many before they count...it helps later when dealing with bigger numbers and making sensible guesses.
• Finding objects using simple directions
• Sorting objects by how many legs, arms, eyes, toes etc. and putting things into sets because of their qualities....put all the creatures with 4 legs in one group and the rest in another group.

Small World Play

Small world play is quite simply when children play using dolls, figures and small versions of the real thing to create their own little worlds and scenarios...exploring creatively real and fantasy worlds.

Small world play is such an important aspect of children’s play because it helps children develop in so many different ways. When children play imaginatively it enables them to express thoughts and experiences in their play helping them explore the world in which they live and begin to make sense of it. Small world also offers the opportunity for children to build on their language skills, expanding their vocabulary and their understanding. This type of play not only supports a range of areas for development, but also benefits the child’s independent play skills.

As parents /grand parents /carers we can help this learning process by providing the tools for children to use small world play to learn and develop. We can give children space to explore and support their learning by playing along side them at times, modelling language and expanding on their ideas but the important thing is to let them take the lead and explore, invent and create independently.

Imagination

Children use their own experiences of the world to build on their imaginative skills. Small world play offers the opportunity for children to act out these experiences in a controlled way. Small world environments allow children to act out daily routines or past events such as putting a doll to bed or driving a car, however it also allows them to experiment with fantasy play and develop their own ideas

Building Language Skills

Small world helps children develop their language skills including building vocabulary and understanding. Children are able to learn new words and practise using them in context. Expressive language skills can be encouraged through a small world experience, allowing the child to narrate their play and talk about what is happening. They learn how to use positional language in this type of play, as a child moves the people in, on and under objects.

Problem Solving Skills and Cause and Effect
Problem solving skills are key due to the nature of the play. Scenarios can often change and adapt, enabling the child to think of new ideas or ways to extend the play. Resources are a range of sizes and scales meaning a doll may not fit into a small world car. This can lead a child to display a range of emotions and use their problem solving skills to fix the problem and continue the play successfully.
Children will often learn a great deal about cause and effect through small world as they have a great deal of control over the play. This allows them to experiment with different actions, leading them to understand different outcomes. This allows a safe environment for the children to practise cause and effect without getting hurt!

Themes for small world play: 
Fairy Forest, Dinosaur World, Troll Forest, Reptile World, Mini Beast World, Under The Sea, Down on the Farm, On the Moon, Outer Space, Our Town, The Building Site, Arctic World, The Rain Forest, Snowy Day, At the Beach, Growing, Spring, Autumn, Winter, Christmas, The Easter Story, Harry Potter, We're Going on a Bear Hunt....to name but a few!

Creating a space for Small World Play
Tuff spots (builders trays) are great as they are large and form an arena. I have made a number of themed play mats to fit the tuff spot. Here is a sea inspired tuff spot mat.

 Play mats can help to keep the play confined to an area.

Just fabric drapes can also be used and choosing fabrics carefully you can enhance the play...shiny, sparkly fabrics, rough landscape patterned fabrics, grass effect fabric can all be found in charity shops or car boot sales. I have a contact who works at a clothing company who kindly lets me have samples of the most beautiful and unusual fabrics.

As well as fabric you can make available small boxes, stones, shiny pebbles, bits of wood etc. for your child to create a landscape for their small world play...get them to search for things too.        

 

Celebration Tree

I love the idea of having a celebration tree at home right through the year that can be decorated at intervals by the children, or adults as a celebration of the different seasons and events throughout the year...Christmas / Epiphany/ Winter / Spring / Summer / Autumn / Easter / Mothering Sunday & Father's Day / Holidays / Birthdays / New Births. Celebrations are important, they help us focus on good times and encourages us to be thankful.

This tree is decorated with stars and snowflakes for the Winter.

The same tree becomes a Spring tree covered in silk blossom

 and sporting some clip on birds from Lidl

By adding some little Easter eggs I have made my Celebration Tree into an Easter Celebration Tree!  All ready for Easter Sunday!