maths learning in action with beads, puzzles and more

maths with beads

Like so many parents before me, I’ve just come the conclusion that there is a great way for the little ones to learn about patterns – and maths in general – and that is through play! My girls started by crafting lots of little bracelets, a couple of necklaces and arm bands (or something like that) for their stuffed animals with different patterns – and they ended up with some lovely repeating and growing patterns – so a great lesson there for the young ones!

School learning materials
‘Trying to find some ways to replace at least the maths bits with fun game-like activities’

It’s almost time for the holidays here in the UK, the kids are tired, but the notes from the teachers keep coming in with few more digraphs to learn, 3D shapes to practice, numbers to 20, grouping, patterns – you name it! Tired kids and revision, not the ideal combination. So we started rummaging our playroom in order to locate all sorts different learning stuff from the older sister, and presents we’ve received (but not used to much yet). And we found lots!

Number puzzle

Butterfly puzzle was perfect for counting (and when we realized that bits were missing the playroom got a bit of sorting too when we went “hunting” for more bits. I’ll definitely organize some more of these “treasure hunts” in the future to get a super-organized playroom with no more missing parts for every game and puzzle).

Building shapes and patterns
“These construction pieces work also for patterns and shapes!”

Now I can finally appreciate those doodle books too that have been buried at the bottom of the box – they grow attention to detail, finger agility and those pattern skills. Doodles will now go to my travel fun pack list as I’ve seen that the kids actually take their time to complete these!

Creating patterns with doodle books
‘Finally someone’s interested in the old doodle book and creating some lovely patterns there – this can be pretty challenging depending on the doodle template you’ll pick”

And what about the good old maths cubes that double up as animal feed, sugar cubes and million other things during the play. groupings, patterns, sums – I love them. And all those boxes of Dominoes we’ve gotten from the Kempinski kids clubs and other places: we all love them now. Oh math games, where were you when I was young?

Math blocks and dominoes for sorting, grouping and counting
“little treasure tray of counting cubes, dominoes, dice& more – so many games one can play with them!”

Now I’d love to have your tips on great ways to entertain kids and practice the school homework assignments simultaneously, the more the merrier! Meanwhile, we’ll be working on our next project: sending some books to a South African community library organized by a lovely blogger Se7en.

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