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Maths doesn't have to be dry, dull and boring! There are many ways that we can help our kids have fun with exploring maths.
Maths is more than just sums and numbers- it is patterns, shapes, reasoning, predictions and is based on specific observations of our world... and beyond. Maths can be found in our everyday lives and activities. In the kitchen, the sandpit, the motor raceway and the stars.
| Real life maths gives children a better understanding of its relevance in their lives. |
So dive into some maths with a difference... and never look at maths the same way again!
THE ART OF MATHS
Most kids love being creative, so try an artistic flair to your maths fun with the following ideas!
Fractals
Fractals are truly beautiful mathematical designs with fascinating principles behind them. Younger children can just enjoy their beauty, before delving deeper into them as they get older. Their are quite a few websites offering online fractal creation where you can make your own beautiful designs. Older children can also then be encouraged to explore the maths behind what they are creating.
Geometric Art
http://barinya.com/educational/activities/maths_fun/Maths_Activity_Geometric_Art.htm
Roll a Picture
http://barinya.com/educational/activities/maths_fun/Maths_Activity_Roll_A_Picture.htm
Jigsaws
Wonderful for developing more complex shape recognition. Jigsaws can be used for quite young children in their simplistic shaped few piece form, or puzzles that puzzle even an adult brain! 3D jigsaws add an extra element in brain stretching! |
MATHS WITH A MAGICAL THEME
Creating maths games and activities around a favourite theme can stimulate enthusiasm in your children. For example, the activities below all revolve around the theme of Magic!
OUT AND ABOUT MATHS ACTIVITIES
Visual Scavenger Hunts
Help develop your kids skills of observing mathematical principles all around them. Take them out searching for objects of certain shapes... or measurements... or ways of representing numbers... or mathematical principles. They can then draw or take photos of their discoveries.
The Magic of Shapes activity elaborates on this theme even further.
Go to the motor raceway and get the kids to each time the laps of a certain car, then work out the average lap time.
Take the kids stargazing somewhere with little light pollution... and learn together about lightyears and light minutes... and how they relate to distance.
Count the number of each colour or make of car that passes your house (or choose a busier spot) in a certain length of time, then graph the results.
For a fun measuring activity try Wizards Challenge: Measuring Manoevers
Do your kids like climbing trees? Maybe this activity will appeal:
Wizards Challenge: Leaf Estimation.
Helping with the family shopping provides lots of opportunities for maths- working out best value, sticking to a budget, handling money etc.
To add a bit of excitement to this, try Fabulous Food Fight
MATHS IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Cooking provides some excellent opportunities to explore weights and measures, while creating a tasty end result.
Sandpit fun can include inlcude exploring volume. Same goes for water play.
Helping create a budget, comparing catalogue prices and making shopping lists, online bill paying and other banking tasks can be something older children can become involved with. These help teach important financial skills, as well as giving the children a sense of helping out and being part of the household management.
Hold a Garage Sale and get the kids involved with pricing items and taking money/giving change.
HANDS ON FUN!
Cuisenaire Rods
Wonderful tools for exploring maths concepts. Make up your own games or find ideas online.
Rubics cubes
Intriguing- and frustrating!- Rubics Cubes can really help stretch an older child's mind as they try to think many moves ahead!
Mazes
From simple to incredibly complex, mazes can help stimulate a child's mind.
Tower of Hanoi
Great solo manipulative game for thinking out moves in advance.
Shape Matching Games
Good early activities for young children to help develop shape recognition. The games which involve posting correct shaped objects through their corresponding holes are great, as they are hands-on and give immediate feedback.
BOARD GAMES, CARD GAMES, DICE GAMES
Many board games have a mathematical element to them and some have a strong counting, adding or currency contingent. Lots of card games require recognition of patterns, or other use of numbers.
Dice games are great ways to introduce and practise various simple maths skills, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It's easy to make up your own simple maths dice games, and card games too, so don't feel you have to only buy pre-made games.
Different age groups will get varying benefit from different games.
Some are easy even for reasonably young children while others need much more developed reasoning skills. Below is a list of a few good ones to try.
| Sudoku |
Monopoly |
Payday |
| Acquire |
Tic Tac Toe |
Connect 4 |
| Dominoes |
Chess |
Checkers |
| Mah Jong |
Yahtzee |
Billionaire |
| Twenty One |
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COMPUTER OR CONSOLE GAMES
Don't be too quick to dismiss computer/console games as having no value. A lot of them do in fact have a lot to offer in helping children develop judgement and reasoning skills, quick thinking, as well as hand-eye co-ordination. Some games also require calculations, recognising patterns and other elements which help develop the mathematical brain synapses.
There are also a lot of great online educational maths games, as well as games you can purchase which are specifically designed to enhance maths skills.
CALCULATOR GAMES
Kids can have a lot of fun using their calculators in fun ways. A search online will bring up quite a few ideas, from the easy to the complex. Get your kids to create their own calculator games for the rest of the family.
For some more maths fun check out our Money Challenge ideas!
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