Keep Maths
Bubbling!
Maths for fun
Symmetry and shapes all around
Your children can explore some fascinating mathematical possibilities in the world around them every day.
1. Look for symmetry in the environment; leaves, houses, butterflies, flowers.
2. Go for a ‘shape walk’. What shapes can they see in their environment? Can they describe the
properties of the shape e.g. a window – It has 4 straight sides all the same length, 4 corners.
Older children can go into more detail e.g. has it got any perpendicular lines? Any parallel lines?
Can they find out the perimeter? Don’t forget 3D shapes!
Guess if you can
1.
Let your child think of a number between a stated range of numbers while you try to guess the number
by asking questions. Here is a sample conversation.
Child: I am thinking of a number between 1 and 100.
Parent: Is it more than 50?
Child: No.
Parent: Is it an even number?
Child: No.
Parent: Is it more than 20 but less than 40?
Child: Yes.
Parent: Can you reach it by starting at zero and counting
by 3's?
Child: Yes.
(At this stage, your child could be thinking of 21, 27, 33,
or 39.)
2.
3.
Figure out the answers to your own questions.
After you have guessed your child's number, let your
child guess a number from you by asking similar
questions.
(Parent tip: It is important to help children develop an understanding of the characteristics and meanings of
numbers)
What are the coins?
What you'll need
A selection of coins
What to do
Ask your child the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
I have three coins in my pocket. They are worth 7p. What do I have? (5p, 1p and 1p)
I have three coins in my pocket. They are worth 16p. What do I have (10p, 5p and 1p)
I have three coins in my pocket. They are worth £1.11. What do I have? (£1, 10p and 1p)
I have six coins in my pocket which have a value of 67p. How many ways could my coins add up to this
amount?
I have coins in my pocket which have a value of 11p. How many ways could my coins add up to this
amount?
(Parent tip: It is challenging for children if there is more than one answer to a problem.)
What are my chances?
What you'll need
Some coins, paper, and a pencil to keep the score
What to do
Play these games with your child:
1.
2.
3.
Flip one coin. Every time it comes up heads, your child gets 1 point. Every time it comes up tails, you get
1 point. Flip it 50 times. Use tally marks (
) to make it easier to keep track of scores. The
person with the most points wins. If one person has 10 points more than the other, score an extra 10
points. Does this happen very often? Why not?
Flip two coins. If the coins come up two tails or two heads, your child scores 1 point. If they come up
heads and tails, you get 1 point. After 50 flips, see who has more points. Do you think the game is fair?
What if one person received 2 points for every double heads and the other person received 1 point for
everything else. Is this fair?
Flip one coin. Then flip the other. If the second coin matches the first coin, your child scores 1 point. If
the second coin doesn't match the first coin, you receive 1 point. Try this 50 times. Is the result the
same as in the previous game?
(Parent tip: Understanding probability is essential in many areas of mathematics. Playing games that involve
chance is one way to explore the laws of probability.)
Problem solvers
What you'll need
Enough sets of cards so that each player has a set of cards numbered 1 through to 6.
What to do
1.
Super sums. Each player writes numbers 1-12 on a piece
of paper. The object of the game is to be the first one to
cross off all the numbers on this list. Use only the cards
1-6. Each player picks two cards and adds up the numbers
on them. The players can choose to mark off the numbers
on the list by using the total value or crossing off two or
three numbers that make that value. For example, if a
player picks a 5 and a 6, the player can choose to cross out 11, or 5 and 6, or 7 and 4, or 8 and 3, or 9
and 2, or 10 and 1, or 1, 2, and 8. If a player cannot cross off a number, the player loses a turn. The first
player to cross off all the numbers wins
Pebbles on the beach
What you’ll need
2 players
10 small pebbles (or penny coins if you’re not on the beach).
What to do
1.
Player 1 has to ‘hide’ some pebbles in his hand without player 2 seeing.
2. Player 1 holds out his hand and player 2 guesses how many pebbles he is hiding.
3. If player 2 guesses correctly he ‘wins’ the pebbles from player 1.
4. If player 2 guesses incorrectly e.g. player 1 has 3 pebbles but player 2 guesses 5 – then player 2
has to give player 1 the difference – which in this case would be 2 pebbles.
5. The player who runs out of pebbles first loses the game!
Jigsaw numbers
What you’ll need
No resources required.
What to do
1.
(Number bonds to 10) An adult calls out a number then other players
have to call out the number that goes with it to make a total of 10 e.g.
Adult calls out 7 – player has to call out 3.
2. (Number bonds to 20) As above but the jigsaw total must make 20.
3. (Number bonds to 100) As above but the jigsaw total must make 100.
These are just a few examples of ways to ‘Keep Maths Bubbling’.
Maths can be absorbed all around us - quite often children won’t
even know they are learning! Don’t forget activities such as cooking
(which involves time, weighing, measuring and counting) and sports
(How long will it take you to run up and down the garden 10 times?
Do it again – was there a time difference – if so, what? How high
can you jump?). The Commonwealth Games provides a great
opportunity to encourage sporting activities and work on those
statistics!
All these activities can be played outdoors, on a journey or on the
beach. Just 10 minutes of maths a day makes all the difference!
Follow the links below for more outdoor maths ideas. It’s
summertime so get outside and have some fun with numbers!
http://creativestarlearning.co.uk/c/maths-outdoors/
http://www.outdoormaths.com/
http://www.mathsinsider.com/5-fantastic-maths-games-for-cartrips-short-and-long/