05/06/202111/06/2021

Learning Maths Through Play

Beebot on Beebot street mat on classroom floor

Students must hold maths in their hands before they can hold maths in their heads”
(Anonymous)

Teaching mathematical concepts to young students can be done in a fun and engaging way through hands-on learning experiences. By introducing maths concepts through play-based learning activities, students can make connections by seeing and holding maths in their hands.

In this post, I will share a number of resources and ways you can teach mathematical concepts through play-based learning experiences.

Number & Algebra

Number & Place Value

Australian Curriculum:
Foundation:
Connect number names, numerals and quantities, including zero, initially up to 10 and then beyond (ACMNA002)

Year 2:
Explore the connection between addition and subtraction (ACMNA029)

SumBlox

SumBlox are a great resource for the Junior Primary classroom. They are multi-sensory maths tools that allow students to visualise and understand the value of numbers through the various number block heights that increase with the value of the number. SumBlox help students build a strong understanding of maths concepts including patterns, addition and subtraction.

Money & Financial Mathematics

Australian Curriculum:
Year 1:
Recognise, describe and order Australian coins according to their value (ACMNA017)
Year 2:
Count and order small collections of Australian coins and notes according to their value (ACMNA034)

Money Play Through Shops:

Setting up a class shop is a great way for students to understand the value of money. Each student can be given a set amount of play money, or be rewarded with money for completing tasks in the class, that they can then spend at the class shop. Students can take on the role of shopkeeper and customer to learn about the cost of items and the change that needs to be given to the customer.

Bee-Bot Money Mat:

The Money Mat combined with a Bee-Bot, Blue-Bot, Dash, or other robot is a great way to incorporate technology into a maths lesson. Students can program their robot to manoeuvre to the different money amounts. To extend students’ thinking, they can add or subtract different money amounts together.

Both the Money Coin Spinner and the Money Note Spinner can be used to randomise the amount of money students need to program their robot to. Even without the Bee-Bot mat and robots, students can use the spinners to calculate the money amounts.

Patterns & Algebra

Australian Curriculum:
Foundation:
Sort and classify familiar objects and explain the basis for these classifications. Copy, continue and create patterns with objects and drawings (ACMNA005)
Year 1:
Investigate and describe number patterns formed by skip-counting and patterns with objects (ACMNA018)

Exploring Patterns:

Having students explore and create patterns helps them visualise the maths concepts being taught. Using various items like the Bear Counters, Counting Links or Wooden Counting Cubes students can organise and create a variety of patterns to show their understanding.

Measurement & Geometry

Using Units of Measurement

Australian Curriculum:
Foundation:
Use direct and indirect comparisons to decide which is longer, heavier or holds more, and explain reasoning in everyday language (ACMMG006)
Year 2:
Compare masses of objects using balance scales (ACMMG038)

How Much Does It Weigh?

Students can explore the concepts of measurement through hands-on learning by physically holding the various objects to compare which item is heavier and lighter. First they can predict their answer, then test by holding the objects in their hands before finally measuring the exact weight of the items using the scale.

Statistics & Probability

Data Representation & Interpretation
Australian Curriculum:
Foundation:
Answer yes/no questions to collect information and make simple inferences (ACMSP011)
Year 2:
Identify practical activities and everyday events that involve chance. Describe outcomes as ‘likely’ or ‘unlikely’ and identify some events as ‘certain’ or ‘impossible’ (ACMSP047)

What’s in the Bag?

Teachers can place a selection of objects in these colourful drawstring bags to suit their learning intention. An example is having five yellow bears and two green bears in a bag.
The teacher could then ask;
– ‘Will I pick out a red bear?’ (Students can respond with ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘impossible’.)
– ‘Is it more likely that I’ll pick out a yellow or a green bear?’

These are just some of the ways you can incorporate play into your mathematics lessons. There are so many learning experiences we can create to support our students’ understanding of mathematical concepts through hands-on play, it really is just up to the creativity of your lesson design to meet your students’ needs.

What hands-on lessons have you created to support your students’ mathematical understanding? We’d love to hear from you!

About the author

Eleni Kyritsis is an award-winning Year 3 teacher and Leader of Curriculum and innovation from Melbourne, Australia. Eleni facilitates professional learning workshops around the world that focus on unleashing creativity and curiosity in classrooms. You can contact her at elenikyritis.com and @misskyritsis

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17/04/2020

5 Great Reasons To Play Board Games With Your Children

There’s no school or preschool for many kids right now and with no play dates, sporting events or birthday parties to look forward to, life could be a little tricky at your house as you try to live, learn, work and play under the same roof.

If the novelty of ‘physical distancing’ is starting to wear off and your internet data levels are going through the roof because your children all want to watch ‘screens’ while you’re trying to work from home, why not pull out a board game to keep them engaged and interacting with one another for a while?

Games have been used since time immemorial for teaching social and academic skills to children and adults alike.

Did you know that the games of Go and Chess both evolved from being a way to test the mind of a military leader to a way to pass the time? The board games of today are no different.

Aside from building strong family ties, spending time playing board games with your children can have a surprising range of social and academic benefits.

I’ve been a teacher for over thirty years and wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve played board games with my students. The child psychologists, speech therapists and occupational therapists I work with today also often use board games to help children to develop the skills they need to succeed at home and in the classroom.

With a good board game, you can do the same with your own children!

Benefits of Board Games

Some of the benefits your child can gain include:

• Building resilience

Games that involve a chance to randomly experience a set-back can help your child learn resilience. By playing games like Snakes and Ladders , you can help your child learn to bounce back from a disappointment and keep pushing towards an end goal.

• Learning how to cope with winning and losing

Playing games with others helps children learn to focus on having fun, rather than winning or losing. However, it also teaches them how to cope with both sides of that coin. Rather than celebrating and gloating they learn to move past the glory of winning and focus on having fun as a group. When you play board games with your children, you can show them how to recover from a loss and do better in the next game instead of sulking over coming second.

• Learning patience and the concept of waiting for one’s turn

This one can be difficult in our fast-paced world but taking the time to play with your children can help. In my children’s health and education practice in Sydney, we make frequent use of many of the board games made by Orchard Toys that are perfect for teaching young children this skill. We particularly like the Bus Stop Game and Where’s My Cupcake?, which combine real life scenarios with great lessons in turn taking.

Board games build thinking skills

Games can also be played to help children consolidate curriculum skills that they’re learning at school or preschool.

By playing board games with your child, they get opportunities to practice:

• Early number skills such as matching, counting, and keeping a score

Matching games teach children observational skills as well as being able to pair like with like. One of our favourites to play is Monster Bingo

A key skill for children to learn prior to going to school is the ability to count. Games that can support correspondence counting make the time spent to learn the skill more enjoyable for everyone. A fun one to start with is Catch and Count, which helps children learn to count and recognise numbers.

Keeping score is a step up after learning to count, and can be applied to most games, even if it’s only a simple “OK, I won this game, mark it down.” When the game is over, you can ask, “How many games did you win? How many did I win?”

Another Maths option is a game like the Magic Spelling Game. Kids have lots of fun learning addition and subtraction and quickly come to understand that count how close all the players are to winning is the key to the game.

• Early literacy skills that are learned when a child reads for a purpose

Adding games to your child’s leisure time on a regular basis can also aid them immensely as they develop early literacy skills. Games can vary from letter recognition to reading for a purpose, such as reading the ‘Chance’ cards from Monopoly. Our favourite for this group is difficult to choose, but it might just be Sight Words String Ups which combines vocabulary building, reading and fine motor skills in an innovative game that kids enjoy.

As you spend time playing with your children on a rainy day, you’re not only helping them to learn and build skills, but you’re also building memories.

When they get to play games with you, they learn many life skills that will serve them, as well as a relationship that will only grow with time.

So next time a friend or relative asks what to buy your child for a birthday or other special occasion, why not suggest a board game or two?

They’re the kind of gift that just keep on giving!!

Featured Products:

Sight Words String Ups

About the Author

Sonja Walker is the best-selling author of School Ready: A practical and supportive guide for parents with sensitive kids. She is also an experienced teacher, speaker, mum and the founder of Kids First Children’s Services, an award-winning pediatric health and education practice in Sydney where she leads a highly experienced team of child psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and teachers. Sonja’s mission is to help kids to thrive, not just ‘cope’ by supporting their parents and teachers with practical solutions and easy ideas that make life happier at home, preschool and school. Sonja presents keynote speeches and workshops in preschools, schools and corporate settings and is a sought after media commentator on topics related to children’s learning and development. To contact Sonja, please visit www.kids-first.com.au

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21/06/2019

10+ Maths Books For Young Learners

In my Prep classroom, one of our favourite times of the day is when we come together to enjoy a story. Some people assume that reading stories is strictly part of English lessons – this couldn’t be further from the truth! There are so many fabulous maths books out there that captivate children’s interests Continue reading “10+ Maths Books For Young Learners”

Students must hold maths in their hands before they can hold maths in their heads” (Anonymous)

Number & Algebra

Measurement & Geometry

Statistics & Probability

Students must hold maths in their hands before they can hold maths in their heads”
(Anonymous)