Messy Maths: A playful, outdoor approach for early years

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Children enjoy inventing their own games. Whether you have a pile of stones or a few leaves lying under a tree, challenge them to create a game to help them learn a specific maths concept or skill. Topics covered include: general advice; exploring numbers; number functions and fractions; money; measurement; time; pattern; shape and symmetry; position, direction and movement; data handling; routines; and the mathematical garden. Each chapter features a section on topic-specific vocabulary and expressions to help you integrate terminology into each area of study, while suggestions for embedding maths into routines are also provided to assist in the development of creative, progressive and flexible approaches to everyday situations.

Messy Maths Outdoors - Creative STAR Learning Messy Maths Outdoors - Creative STAR Learning

On a number of occasions in the Outdoor Maths in Primary and Early Years Facebook group, queries have been made about books and resources that exist about outdoor maths. Thus it seemed to make good sense to put these into a blog post for anyone to access. It would be helpful, if you know of others, to get in touch so that the list is kept up-to-date. It can help to make group estimates where there is a consensus. With older children, the skill of rounding up or down is a natural progression within estimation.Time the class to get ready. This can be using a non-standard unit of measurement, such as a song for little children. With older children, this will be using a stopwatch or other timer. Maths Outdoors Published in 2005 – suitable for early years.This book was written in 2005 by Carole Skinner and for many years it was the core book to read. Hopefully in due course an updated version will be written. One of the greatest joys of teaching in the early years is the expectation and freedom to take your young students outdoors, getting them learning through play, and an unwritten rule allowing them to get all messy! Well, it's what young children do, so by providing them with rich, meaningful playful learning experiences should be part of every experiences for them. Giving young children an early and relevant understanding of basic mathematical concepts is critically important. Developing Young Children’s Mathematical Learning Outdoors Published in 2017 – suitable for early years.Written by curriculum and maths consultant, Lynda Keith, this books provides a rationale for maths outdoors particularly in the context of the different curricula of the UK and Northern Ireland. It focuses on approaches linked to specific zones within your outdoor space such as bike play or in the mud kitchen. It is not a `how to' guide, but rather an easy-to-use reference book replete with ready-to-use games and open-ended ideas designed to help children become confident and skilled in thinking about, using and exploring abstract mathematical concepts as they play outside.

Messy Maths - Outdoor Classroom Day

This is a great follow-up to Dirty Teaching. It stands alone in its own right, however, giving teachers, child-minders and all educators (including parents) the confidence to see the mathematics all around us and to help children draw out the concepts they are exploring in their play. Maths Outside the Classroom Published in 2011 – suitable for all primary.This book is written by the Devonshire Maths team and has over 50 outdoor activities. It’s got some good ideas. Many of these ideas and activities are also beautifully displayed in full-colour photographs throughout the book, making it even easier to jump straight into outstanding outdoor learning opportunities. Topics covered include: general advice; exploring numbers; number functions and fractions; money; measurement; time; pattern; shape and symmetry; position, direction and movement; data handling; routines; and the mathematical garden.

Garnetbank Primaryschool in Glasgow has been on a journey of maths improvement, supporting all of our children to understand maths through concrete materials, pictorial representation and moving into the abstract. We understand the power of learning through play and sought practical ideas to bring maths to life and get children outdoors. Our aims are to enable our children to connect their learning in the classroom to the world beyond, apply skills in new situations and to see that everyone needs maths in learning, life and work. Mathematics can often be met with disdain bymany of us, through dull, and uneventful learning experiences that we encounter in our younger years of learning. This resource shares with us all what Maths truly is, and that is Maths is a language. We have forgotten this, with the dulling and tailored approach to the subject area, and this resource is a breath of fresh air and a reminder that Maths is fun! Messy Maths by Juliet Robertson is built on a career of academic experience of teaching outside. It brings the recently new concept of forest schools and outdoor nurseries very much into the mainstream conversation. This is not an alternative choice. Robertson puts the outdoor very much at the front of maths learning for early years. Lots of outdoor play and engaging activity along the way is a must, as being outside enables connections to be made between the hands, heart and head, and lays the foundations for more complex work as children grow, develop and learn. Following on from the success of Dirty Teaching (ISBN 978-178135107-9), Messy Maths reimagines the outdoor space through a mathematical lens - providing a treasure trove of suggestions that will empower you to blend outdoor learning into your teaching practice.

Messy Maths: A playful, outdoor approach for early years

Following on from the success of Dirty Teaching(ISBN 978-178135107-9), Messy Maths reimagines the outdoor space through a mathematical lens – providing a treasure trove of suggestions that will empower you to blend outdoor learning into your teaching practice. It is not a ‘how to’ guide, but rather an easy-to-use reference book replete with ready-to-use games and open-ended ideas designed to help children become confident and skilled in thinking about, using and exploring abstract mathematical concepts as they play outside. Many of these ideas and activities are also beautifully displayed in more than 140 full-colour photographs throughout the book, making it even easier to jump straight into outstanding outdoor learning opportunities. She doesn’t prescribe what to do with the kids. She suggests working with what they are doing and adapt slightly. Gives examples of how jumping in puddles can become about measurement and how endlessly riding bikes around can become about weight and mass.

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Juliet believes being outside makes maths real. In the classroom environment, maths can seem disconnected from everyday reality – but real maths is really messy. Lots of outdoor play and engaging activity along the way is a must, as being outside enables connections to be made between the hands, heart and head, and lays the foundations for more complex work as children grow, develop and learn.