Support at home
Maths skills can be developed at home by using things in your children's environments and everyday activities such as; sharing out snacks, counting cars, baking, looking at the prices in supermarkets etc.
Keeping positive about maths is key - children will pick up on comments like 'I'm was no good at maths at school' so we would like to encourage parents to use as much positive language as possible. Making mistakes is part of the process of learning and working through them with your child teaches them to be resilient and supports a positive attitude to their learning (maths in particular).
Top Tips
Everyday objects and language: Notice things around the house with your child - what shapes can they see in the room? How many pieces of pasta do they have on their plate? If you eat 3 pieces, how many will you have left? What patterns can they see on a rug/flooring? You could extend them by asking doubling questions, adding things on or taking them away. Using physical objects in your home environments is a great opportunity for helping them become more confident with their counting and more.
Play maths games together: Counting games, Orchard Learning Games, board games, 'I spy' with shapes, make patterns together, count with food etc.
Imaginative play: lends itself to lots of opportunities to ask maths based questions 'How many plates do we need? What number house do we live at?'. Children can sell things in a shop - use real monetary terms and get them to label the different items with their costs. Build towers and lego - how many blocks have been used? How many different shapes are there?
Cooking and baking: This is a great opportunity for children to weigh out ingredients (it can be simplified to counting the number of spoons or cups used). Talking about how long thing take to prepare and cook is a good way of making children aware of time. Decorating with patterns, cutting food into different shapes is all useful for their understanding.
Routine: Talking about your child's routine can really support their maths vocabulary. Discussing what is happening today, tomorrow and yesterday - what day of the week it is they go swimming and how many days until they visit...
Using counting when washing their hands, tidying up a certain number of toys or things they can see on their walk to school will also support their progress.
Online resources
TopmarksGreat interactive online games
BBC Bitesize - Maths for the Early YearsGreat interactive games
Youtube - Singing WalrusLoads of great maths songs to get your child inspired
NumberblocksA very informative TV series
Nursery Rhymes
Nursery rhymes are a great way to support your child - not only with their counting, but also their memory. Encouraging children to sing these in your home language is also beneficial for their understanding of maths.
Natural maths
Using walks, gardens, communal green spaces or woods are a great way of encouraging maths outdoors. There are many inspiring Instagram accounts to follow for great ideas. Early Years Outdoors have lots of resources that can be bought.
Getting outside can prove to be a really positive stimulus. You can make patterns, count conkers, look at the different shapes of leaves, count trees.
Early Years OutdoorsSome extra inspiration