Maths Table Activites

[Guest]

Hi, can anyone help with ideas for my maths table. Every week I put out a range of things which have included number puzzles, food labelled with prices, money, scales with sand and soil, dot to dot, dinosaurs for counting etc. The trouble is the children never seem enthused by these activities. Can anyone share successful activities with me? I'm running out of ideas!

 

Thanks Vicki

[Guest]

We had mini washing lines with numbers pegged in the wrong order, which the children enjoyed re-ordering. Giant number dominoes were also very popular.

[womble]

Hi Vicki,

Although this isn't a table activity the children love it - we regularly have maths trails where the children have to go around the garden or room with their clipboard and find the hidden numbers and tick them off on their sheet. This is great for number matching and recognition. You can of course use dots or pictures to count, shapes etc. We have also used the trail idea to find words pictures or different parts of a story. Other table top ideas that have woked inluded numbered decorated elephants linked to Elmer and the song 'One elephant went out one day'. The children loved ordering them and singing the song as they did so. There is a peg game they enjoy where they have to put red pegs on the apple trees and match the numbers. If I think of any more ideas I'll let you know. I'd like some more ideas too as Maths isn't my strong point.

 

Hope this is useful

Womble

[SJW]

See recent post under number recognition with song sacks, 5 little ducks, 10 green bottles. The children in my class love playing independently with these resources after we have used them as a group whilst singing the songs. Other easy ones that could be made are 5 currant buns - made out of clay with some toy money. 10 monkeys - could stick on a picture of a bed. Gingerbread men cut outs with numbers written on them with a bowl of buttons for the children count out and lay on the cards.

 

Can't think of any more at the moment

[Guest]

Children get a lot of maths from making their own playdough, the older ones could even write/draw their own recipe cards.

I use a recipe which produces a child size portion of dough, just use tablespoons.

4 X Tbs flour

2 X Tbs Salt

2 X Tbs cold water

 

( you can adapt this and add 1 tps cream of tarter and use warm water for more lasting dough)

 

put all into a small plastic desert sized bowl, stir with spoon, Hey presto own portion.

Once the children have done this activity a few times with adult support, they soon learn to do it independently if ingredients are made available on a table for free access, in clearly marked tubs.

 

I also made laminated cards with large dots like dice dots for children to place small balls of dough on.

 

 

Peggy

[Guest LOSINGTHEWILLTOLIVE]

We have different Russian dolls (some with 3, others with 10) and the children sit for ages putting them into and out of the different sized dolls. They even help each other to do this and the language that comes from them as they do this is very natual and mathematical. We have skittles with dominoes dots on them and numbers for outside and indooors, also numbers on the garage so the children can practice one to one with parking the toy cars in the car parking space.

 

We have loads of sorting things, threading, peg boards and toys e.g. frogs and lilly pads, dogs and bones etc. Like you we also have cooking and setting the table for snack time.

 

Hope this helps?

Edited October 4, 2008 by LOSINGTHEWILLTOLIVE