Learning Specialists

Numeracy

With the school holidays coming up, here are some fun numeracy activities to share at home with your child.

Build with blocks
Thread beads to make and explore patterns
Fold and cut out paper shapes
Colour in patterns, keeping colors apart, mixing colors
Play guess and check games (use different shaped jars) – how many beans, buttons, pegs in the container?
Work together on jigsaw puzzles and discuss your method: e.g., Collect the pieces with straight edges
Play card games; e.g., Snap, Go Fish, Find the Pair
Play games: e.g., Hop-Scotch, Snakes and Ladders, Connect 4, Noughts and Crosses, Checkers. Is there a strategy?

When out and about, children:

Take turns closing their eyes and describing how to get from the front gate to the kitchen, from the kitchen to their bedroom
Dance to their favourite song/music
Play “I Spy” with a mathematics focus; e.g., something rectangular and red
Go on a numeracy walk to look for numbers or shapes, to count objects, compare sizes of objects and look for patterns in your environment. Ask your child to decide what you will look for
Measure everything! How far can you jump? How long is the desk? How tall are you? How tall is the dog?
Find and read large numbers in your local environment
Spot number plates; e.g., numbers in order, double digits, numbers that add to a given total