It’s easy to include engaging Early Years maths games and activities as part of your daily routine, says Jude Harries…
One of the five recommendations in the EEF report Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1, is to try to integrate maths into a variety of different regular activities throughout the day.
This helps children become more familiar with mathematical language and concepts, develop their confidence to use it in their play, and make the most of the routines of the school day.
The Early Years maths games and activities in this article encourage children to enjoy maths throughout the day in a variety of ways: by counting, reading and writing numbers, sharing number books and rhymes, and developing their sense of time.
Here’s a simple way to see instantly how many children are at the setting each day. Invite each child to draw a self-portrait and write their name on a small square of paper. Laminate the pictures so they will survive regular handling.
Attach three 5x2 grids (for up to 30 children) onto an accessible wall, and show the children how to attach their picture to a square using sticky tack. Provide a mini whiteboard and pen so children can take turns to count the children and record the number.
Use the register to create a special number for each child. Help children to learn their “register numbers” by saying, repeating, writing, and so on.
Use a washing line as a number line with all the numbers pegged in order. Invite children to remove their number from the line when they arrive at your setting each day. The numbers that remain are those children who are absent or who have forgotten.
Put children’s names and photos on the other side so children can look at those if they get stuck.
Choose a simple yes/no question to add to the registration routine, e.g. “Do you like dogs/cats/chocolate/carrots?” or “Is ice cream cold?” or “Do you think dragons are real?”.
Write the question on a whiteboard. Set up a jar with lolly sticks with all the children’s names on and invite them to answer the question by placing their stick in the “yes” or “no” column.
Help the children to add up how many have voted for each option. Talk about which number is bigger or smaller.
Make a set of six cards to match the six faces of a die. Draw empty circles in place of the pips, and add the correct numeral on the back.
At snack time, in small groups, show the children the cards and encourage subitising the numbers from the position of the pips.
Invite children to select a card and then place the corresponding number of pieces of fruit or cereal onto each card. Use dried fruit such as raisins, glace cherries, chopped-up dried apricots and cranberries, or breakfast cereal such as hoops. Enjoy eating the snack dice together.
Make a collection of different-shaped snacks to share in a small group. Try round, square, rectangular, and triangular crackers or crisps. Cut toast into more unusual shapes using cutters.
Challenge by using 3D shapes such as cubes of cheese and cone- or cylinder-shaped crisps and sweets. Place a sheet in the middle of the group with pictures and the names of all the shapes so children can sort them and learn mathematical language. Can they identify the shapes that they are eating?
Talk to the children about how to share out their snacks fairly. If items can be counted out, then make sure each child has the same number.
Sometimes, snacks will need to be cut up or divided to be shared out, such as pizzas, apples, toast, cake, etc. Can the children work out how many pieces they need?
Show them how to count the children in the group and then divide the snack into the same number. Introduce mathematical language such as simple fractions, e.g., halves and quarters, as they share their snack.
Use thick playground chalks to create number games to play outside. Support children to draw a traditional hopscotch court and demonstrate how to play with or without a stone. This game develops balance and coordination at the same time as counting and number recognition.
Try a version of “Chindro”, a popular Indian game, and invite children to take turns to throw a beanbag backwards over their heads to land in an assigned number. Remind them to take care when throwing objects!
Use the chalk or paint to create giant number lines. Invite children to write the numbers in order on the line. They can stick to simple 1–10 or start at 11–20. Can they write the numbers in twos?
Challenge children to find different numbers on the lines that you call out. Can they work out simple number sentences by jumping backwards or forwards on the line? Encourage them to make up their own sums for friends to work out.
Use different times of day to encourage children to be more aware of time. Take the opportunity at playtime, lunchtime, or home time to look at an analogue clock together and start to read the time.
Try this time chant: At 12 o’clock, it’s time for lunch. / Both hands at the top. / At 12 o’clock, it’s time to eat. / Time will never stop! / At 3 o’clock, it’s time to go home. / Big hand at the top. / Little hand points at the 3. / Time will never stop!
At the end of the day, sit on the carpet and recall the events of the day, or retell a traditional tale that the children are familiar with using “story numbers”.
Give out cards with the numbers 1–10. Invite No. 1 to start the story by saying, “At school, today I” or “Once upon a time…” Can No. 2 carry on by saying what happened next or introduce the story characters?
Continue the story by inviting the next number to speak and so on. No. 10 must finish with the words “And now it’s time to go home” or “And they all lived happily ever after.”
Use an online stopwatch to time how long it takes the children to get ready to go home at the end of a session. Who can get their coat on, their bag ready with all their belongings, water bottle, books, letters, gloves, and hat in the quickest time?
Talk about what else the children could use the timer for, such as tidying up, sitting on the carpet, lining up to go home or even standing on one leg.
Use the Register numbers described above to help children line up in order as they get ready to go home. This can also be useful for lining up to go out to play or for assembly.
Try using this simple chant: No. 1 get in line / No. 2 it’s home time / No. 3 we’ve had some fun / No. 4 the day is done. / No. 5 get in line…
If you want to surprise the children, try using the Register numbers in reverse, or start in the middle and count in twos!
Jude Harries is an author and teacher of music and drama, with experience of working with children aged nine months to 11 years.
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