Want to improve your kids’ math skills? Children really enjoy fun math circle games, and they develop lots of skills during them that they can then transfer and apply in their play and in their lives. Some of the best math circle games use puppets, songs, or simple props to bring them to life. Having …
Ever noticed that most counting songs count backwards? For example, in Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer, every time you sing a verse one man flies away. Or in Ten Fat Sausages every time you sing one sausage explodes!? For some reason the culture of counting songs is based primarily around the concept of …
Many of us will have experienced that sense of awe that a puppet can generate. Children are not always massively bothered about listening to what the grown up is about to say, but a puppet – well, that’s quite a different story! I really do find it like magic. They sit and stare when the …
Parachute games are one of the best ways for young children to learn a range of skills across the whole curriculum. They strengthen their hands by gripping, and they improve their coordination by the movements involved in the games. They develop their listening and attention, and learn to cooperate with others in a fun context. …
Children learn to count a bit like robots. This is certainly not a bad thing – it is just the way it is. You count with them as you go up stairs, or you count the clouds in the sky, or the cars going past, and always you are starting with one. This is all …
Ten frames are becoming one of the most widely used models to teach a range of strategies in early maths. Ten frames are a good tool because they allow children to visualise quantities within the context of ten. Our number system is based around the number ten, for the simple reason that we have ten …
Counting sticks are one of the most versatile tools to teach a range of skills in maths. It is also a simple resource that can be used very effectively with children aged between 3 and at least 11, and maybe higher. There is no end to its versatility, as well as its simplicity. But how …