Let’s teach math through play so our children are relaxed and confident as they learn. Use this teddy bears’ picnic pretend play idea as an arithmetic lesson that teaches division.
Teaching division through pretend play
This teddy bears’ picnic / café role play, taken from our Fun Math curriculum, invites children to combine math with imaginary play.
This lets them see the application of math in the real world and how it is part of our everyday lives, and lets them develop skills when they are happy, relaxed, and enjoying play.
Magic Fun Math lessons!
Fun Math is an easy to teach, highly effective math curriculum based on play and hands-on learning.
All the lessons are designed to be fun and memorable, so children enjoy their lessons and feel confident.
The lessons are easy for teachers and parents to use, in class or at home.
These are the magic lessons where children really see, understand, and can apply math concepts. They are especially suited to children who don’t like math, lack confidence, don’t understand math the way they are currently being taught, or just want to play.
SEE MORE AND TRANSFORM YOUR MATH TEACHING HERE.
In this activity, your children can:
:: combine math with imaginary role play
:: see math at work in the real world
:: count
:: be introduced to division
Materials needed
:: teddies/stuffies
:: play items for a café / picnic role play
Cafe pretend play ideas
Invite your teddies/stuffies to a picnic or a trip to a café! You might like to write invitations to them.
Gather together play items for your pretend play.
You might have a picnic basket with a picnic rug, plates, cups, a bottle of drink, some food items.
You might set up a café with a table and chairs, cups and saucers, plates, a menu, and food items.
How to include math in pretend play
Enjoy hosting your teddies on the outing. Welcome them and make them feel at home, chat with them, and then take their food orders. Add in lots of math by:
:: counting how many teddies you have
:: counting out a plate and a cup for each teddy
:: ‘pouring’ out drinks. Who wants a large drink, who wants a small drink? Who was thirsty and had the biggest drink?
:: counting how many cookies you have and talking about how you are going to share them out fairly: one for you, one for you, one for you…
:: counting how many grapes you have and talking about how you will share them out. Divide the grapes fairly among the teddies. Can you share them all out equally or do you have one or two left over (remaining)?
:: counting how many crackers you have and carrying out the division of them among the teddies
Recap the learning with math conversations
Give your children plenty of time for free, imaginative play. At the end, re-cap the math conversations you had.
Talk about how you divided the food between all the teddies.
Talk about how division is fair, and all the teddies get the same number of cookies, sometimes with one or two left over.
Keep the role play area set up to allow your children to return to play with math again.
Transform your teaching with Fun Math
The Fun Math series gives you a math curriculum that is easy to teach and highly effective.
Children love these lessons because they are engaging and fun.
You’ll have a clear set of ready-made math lessons and activities that are simple to lead using our step-by-step lesson guides, and which children really understand.
Be the best math teacher and boost your children’s confidence and skills with Fun Math.
See more and transform your teaching here.
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