Category Archives: Numeracy and Mathematics

Health and Wellbeing, Numeracy and Mathematics

Pin the Peg

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Get your wee ones  to peg on the missing number in this simple but
fun counting exercise.

What you need: 

• Craft sticks or paper or anything you’re happy to write on and be          able to add a peg
• Felt pens
• Clothes pegs

What to do:

1. Start by drawing numbers one to ten on
a craft stick or paper making sure to miss out and
leave space for one of the numbers each
time.
2. Take the clothes pegs and draw the
numbers from one to ten on the outside
of the part that usually attaches to the
clothes.
3. Lay everything out for your wee ones and see if
they can fill in the blanks by attaching the
clothes pegs to the right part of the craft
stick.
4. Perfect for their number recognition and you also
get them to work on their fine motor
skills while you’re at it.

Curiosity Inquiry Creativity, Expressive Arts, Literacy and English, Numeracy and Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies

Magic Mud!

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Mud is an adaptable and under rated material, it’s cheap and easy to find! It is used for a huge variety of purposes, such as building, beauty and medicinal purposes, making pots and art work.

Mud Sculptures

Create your own sculpture and embellish this with anything that comes to hand such as sticks, stones, bits of broken pottery, snail shells or anything else you might find in your garden or out on a walk.

Building Material 

Create your very own building material by mixing grass or straw  with mud then build your own structures using sticks and twigs before plastering the mud between your sticks to hold your structure together, a bit like the material you would have found between the timbers of timber framed houses.

Mud Artwork

Using sticks or forks draw some pictures or designs in the mud. Add leaves or petals to add some colour. Or simply paint a picture with the mud using a stick or paintbrush.

Hand prints

Place your wee hand in wet mud. You can place a ring made of paper or place a ring of stones or sticks around your print to allow it to dry.

Rock Art

Smooth a rock or stone with wet/damp mud and watch the cracks appear as it dries out.

Curiosity Inquiry Creativity, Expressive Arts, Literacy and English, Numeracy and Mathematics, Sciences

Let’s Talk!

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Who hasn’t explored the wonders of two cups and a piece
of string? Technology, creativity, speaking and listening –
this activity has it all and is great fun too!

What you need:

• Cleaned out plastic cups
• Rope or string
• Metal marbles (if you have)
• Magnets
• Paint

What to do:

1. It all starts with the decorating. If you don’t have marbles and magnets, decorate how you wish. Give each
child a plastic cup, a magnet and a marble.
2. Then show them how they can dip the
marble in various pots of paint and use
the magnet to move the marble around
the inside of the cup. Let them make
their own paint choices and patterns and
you’ll have some highly concentrated
wee faces.
3. Once the plastic cups have dried, make
a hole in two different cups and connect
them with the rope and a couple of
knots.
4. Get your wee ones to explore what happens
when they go far away and speak quietly
into the cups – the noise should travel
down the rope to the little ear at the
other end.
5. Get your wee ones to explore more options
and experiment. Will a glass marble work
in the same way? Will a thinner or thicker
rope work better? You could also do the paint, marble and magnet on a piece of paper.There’s plenty of learning
opportunities in this simple and fun activity!

Curiosity Inquiry Creativity, Health and Wellbeing, Literacy and English, Numeracy and Mathematics, Sciences

Splish Splash

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This  fun multi-sensory activity  for all ages lets
children explore and learn.

What you need:

• Pots or buckets
• A water tray
• A waterproof mat
• Sponges, water toys  (optional) or natural resources
• Bubbles and food colouring (optional)

What to do:

 

1. Outdoors – Lay out some pots or buckets
filled with water and an array of toys,
sponges, and other things that can float.
2. Indoors – If you’re taking it indoors,
you’re better to start with a small water
tray to place the toys in and a waterproof
mat to protect the floor.
3. For younger children and babies
you’ll need to supervise them more closely,
but it is the perfect activity for them
to explore different textures.
4. Your babies will love it if you blow bubbles
and let them float on the water or let them splash
about, grab toys and explore this new
environment.
5. For older children, you can set them
some water play challenges. Get them to
craft floating boats, explore floating and
sinking, and get them to try and build a
dam.

Curiosity Inquiry Creativity, Literacy and English, Numeracy and Mathematics

Whack the Numbers!

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Roll a dice and let the children find the right number on the sticky note with a fly swatter. You could also do the this game with letters or words.

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What you need:

• Dice
• Fly swatter or similar object
• Small sticky notes

 

What to do:

1. Prepare some sticky notes with different
numbers on and place them in front of your wee one.

2. Give your wee one a fly swatter and roll the
dice.

3. The aim of the game is for the little ones
to identify the number on the dice and
match it with the right number before
smacking the correct answer with the fly
swatter.

 

 

Curiosity Inquiry Creativity, Expressive Arts, Literacy and English, Numeracy and Mathematics

LEGO TOWERS

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Create towers by following your own  homemade guidelines. This helps with  pattern recognition and counting.

Design your own cards

What you need:

• Paper cards
• Coloured pencils
• LEGO blocks

What to do:

1. Prepare some suggestion cards by drawing
and colouring LEGO block towers on
pieces of card with specific colour patterns.
2. Leave them by your LEGO resources, and
encourage children to try and recreate
the patters with their own real-life LEGO
block towers.
3. Great for pattern recognition and counting,
you can get the children to help
make the cards to begin with too.

Curiosity Inquiry Creativity, Health and Wellbeing, Literacy and English, Numeracy and Mathematics, Sciences

Time to Tinker

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Got access to a dead old computer or keyboard?
Whatever it is, tinkering with real-life tech is a fabulous
thing for your curious children. When you allow your child to take something apart, put items back together and figure out how things work it encourages them to problem solve, try another strategy or use different materials or tools.

What you need: 

• An old computer
• Different kinds of screwdrivers is the best
thing for your curious preschoolers.

What to do:

1. For children of this age, an adult will most
likely need to remove the larger components
from the computer.
2. Once you’ve got some smaller components
out, allow your children a bit of free
reign with the screwdrivers.
3. The focus that you’ll see in children with
tasks like this is like nothing else, and
there’s nothing more fascinating for a
curious tinkerer than to get to see the
inside workings of a giant computer.