EYFS Activities - An A to Z of learning: M is for…meaningful maths

Children are natural mathematicians and explore maths concepts from an early age, negotiating space, filling containers, building with blocks and problem-solving. At Rachel Keeling, mathematics permeates so much of what we do during the flow of the day and we try to make it meaningful to the children (you won’t find any worksheets here!).

ROUTINES

Self-registering:Staff support children sensitively to count the name cards, then mark make the number of children in their base room that session.

Setting up spaces:Children will make the daily batch of playdough, measuring and reading the recipe and then fairly dividing the batch into four for the four places at the table. This sometimes takes extra time as we compare sizes of spheres.

Resources:In our home corner and across the nursery we make sure we have plentiful amounts of resources (natural ones such as shells, buttons, stones, pinecones), so children can sort, count and use them imaginatively.

Collections: We provide large collections of items to encourage curiosity, such as a collection of keys in different shapes and sizes. We asked families to bring in keys they no longer needed and now have more than 100. (Tip: mark them so that when they wander off in pockets, we know they are not someone’s front door key!)

Lunch: Children help to set up the tables, counting the name cards, and with our midday meal supervisors, they make sure there is enough cutlery, cups, pieces of fruit, chairs and space for everyone.

Tidying-up time is valued and a calm, engaging experience. Children help to tidy away resources, identifying and sorting independently, returning things to their labelled container or basket.

Carpet time: We share number rhymes and songs with props and numerals. This soon becomes a time of joy, and sharing these with families is wonderful too.

THE ADULT ROLE

We enable adults to be available to observe, watch and listen to children, so ensuring they are ready to scaffold and support learning.

For example, children were interested in dancing and wanted to build a stage with the large wooden blocks. A sensitive practitioner was on hand to support the children, thinking aloud, ‘I wonder whether we need to make it bigger?’ ‘Hmmm, how can we make sure there are no gaps between the blocks?’

When we needed to stock-take our wet-weather gear to see what we had (and if we needed to order more), a practitioner enlisted the children’s help. They sorted the coats by size, made a tally of how many they had and matched the wellies into pairs. They then presented the information to the person in charge of the order, explaining what they had done.

It is essential your team are familiar with language related to number, shape, capacity, comparison and direction, so it may be worth having a session to explore this together.

PLANNED MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCES

Bag project:In response to the children’s interest in transporting, staff supported them in making their own bags. The children designed their bags, went shopping with their families for fabric, then measured, cut and sewed the pieces together. They then tested the capacity of their bags when they went shopping at the local shops.

Shoppers of the week:Each week in nursery (in non-Covid times), two children are responsible for the shopping needed for the school. They speak to staff about what is needed, make a list and collect the shopping backpacks (no plastic bags for us!). They then go to the office to ask for the shopping money, which they have to count out. They go to our lovely local shops, selecting what is needed, counting the items and paying. They then return to school and fill out the receipt book in the office (like accountants).

Other ideas

Other fun and meaningful experiences can include:

A number hunt:Search for numbers in the environment, such as car registrations, door numbers, bus numbers and prices in shops.

A shape hunt: Look at windows, doors and signs as the children go about their everyday life.

Mapping bus and train routes:Children sometimes hold incredible knowledge about routes that they take, and encouraging them to make maps or talk about their route is very revealing.

• For more examples, visit: www.rachelkeeling.towerhamlets.sch.uk/mathematics.html