Home » Math » Repeating patterns » Page 6

Math games with circles

by 4 Comments

When you’re working on math with younger children it’s really important to start with real things – objects they can hold in their hands and use as they play and work with mathematical ideas. They need to have a solid understanding of the concept that a written down ‘1’ actually means one car, or one block, or one bottle top. Using toys and other items as manipulatives is great to help them understand this, and adding in new manipulatives every so often keeps the math games fun and interesting. So today, here’s an idea for a really quick-to-make set of DIY manipulatives, and lots of ideas for how you might use them.

Great ideas for math games

Math games with circles [Read more…]

Activities for toddlers :: math games

by 1 Comment

Welcome to day three of our special series that’s Just Right For Toddlers. We’ve already looked at sensory play and arts and crafts, and today our focus is on math games. All our ideas are based on learning through play and math is no exception. We don’t need to try and sit toddlers down at a table and fill in worksheets, when we can explore the same math concepts through games, play and everyday activities.

In these toddler activities we’re looking at learning to count and recognise numbers. We’ve also got ideas that explore shapes and measuring, matching and sorting.

activities for toddlers math games

Activities for toddlers : maths games [Read more…]

Maths games: repeating patterns

by 2 Comments

repeating patterns

What? Repeating patterns are everywhere: in fabric designs, buildings in your neighbourhood, in the songs that you sing. Any sequence of colours, shapes, actions that repeact twice or more become a repeating pattern.

Why? So what have repeating patterns got to do with your children’s play?  Well, by looking out for patterns and including them in your play you’re giving your child the opportunity to develop important mathematical thinking. Many maths concepts are based on patterns, such as addition, times tables and geometry.

How? Children often make their own patterns as they play with bottle tops or building blocks but here are some ideas you can use to let your child explore repeating patterns:

  • Start off a pattern and see if they can follow. You can use anything: blocks, bottle tops, stickers, fridge magnets.
  • If your children love patterns you can they might enjoy these games just for the satisfaction of making a pattern. You can also sneak them into other creative play too: while we were making some furniture for our dolls house we used some coloured star stickers to decorate the rug we made for the dolls’ sitting room – with a repeating pattern design of course.
  • You don’t have to just use colour to form the pattern – try different shapes, number groups or sizes.
  • Try clapping patterns, going slow, slow, fast, fast, fast – and seeing if you can copy each others rythmn.
  • Make yourself some mathematical jewellry, by threading a repeating pattern of beads or coloured pasta tubes onto a string.
  • Do a full body workout, making repeating patterns of jumping, skipping, clapping and hopping.
  • Go on a pattern hunt when you’re out and about – you might be surprised at just how many repeating patterns are out there and how good your child is at spotting them.

Pre-school maths isn’t just about counting – why not try one of these pattern ideas today?

NurtureStore