Good Morning Everyone, it’s great to be able to explore Numbers in different settings. This week I have given you some ideas at how you can explore using numbers when you are out on your daily exercise, walking the dog, playing in your garden or simply just walking to the shops.  All these activities can be done with minimal resources.

Recording in mathematics

The outdoor area often offers unique opportunities for children to explore mark making in ways that are less threatening and more appealing than indoors – with chalks on paving slabs, with buckets of water and huge brushes or sticks in mud. Scoring offers a ‘real purpose’ for recording numbers that is sometimes lacking indoors, and can attract children who avoid pencil and paper activities. Practitioners have an important role in supporting children’s mathematical graphics and recording indoors and outdoors:

● Take all opportunities throughout the day to model ways of recording mathematics, including the use of formal symbols – numerals. Outdoors, this will include writing scores.

● When acting as a co-player, practitioners should model tallying – drawing four lines and a fifth line through to show a group of five; or with younger children, using symbols to record scores – three circles to represent three beanbags in a bucket, perhaps.

● Provide a ‘have a go’ environment where all children’s mathematical graphics are valued and children have opportunities to experiment and practise recording in a variety of ways. Give children lots of time to explore recording so that they can become increasingly familiar and confident with mark making. Use encouragements to record: “How can we remember that?”

● Encourage children to talk about what they are doing and why – they need lots of time to talk about their recordings and think through how effective they are

Natural resources

Help children to learn maths through all their senses, including touch, smell, sound and taste.

● Explore empty and full using big containers – use wet sand, pebbles, branches and boulders.

● Investigate measures – look at tiny seeds, then measure the height of runner bean plants or tall sunflowers or balance leeks, marrows, potatoes and tomatoes.

● Collect, sort and count natural objects outdoors – leaves, twigs, stones, pebbles, fir cones and flowers.

Toppling towers

In the indoor construction area, children could be building with small wooden blocks; outdoors they can explore natural or large objects. Provide logs or large amounts of smooth flat stones to stack and knock over. Extend by providing large empty cardboard boxes to pile up – who can build the tallest structure? Which tower is the most stable?

Splish, splash, splosh

The indoor water tray can be extended outdoors to give children time and space to explore water, without the need to ‘mop up’. Consider an outdoor water tap, water barrel or hose. Make a collection of large containers to fill and empty, including those with sprinklers. Extend to include large guttering and water pipes in paddling pools. Don’t forget the opportunities to splash in and sweep up puddles! Who can predict how many small buckets fill the watering can?

Travelling teabags

Many children love to make a mess – and with teabags soaked in coloured paint (or not), they can certainly do that! Encourage the children to predict who can throw their painty teabag the furthest, and then try it and see. Extend by using standard or non-standard measures to compare the throws. Who predicts the distance most accurately?

 

Check out these websites for more exciting games that explore numeracy outdoors.

https://thirdspacelearning.com/blog/13-outdoor-maths-activities-early-years-year-6-plus-bonus-ages/

https://creativestarlearning.co.uk/c/maths-outdoors/