Explain this
Maths Outdoors
How the publisher describes it:
“Encourage young children to learn maths through outdoor play. This book provides ideas for enjoyable and challenging mathematical activities and games outdoors. Addresses practical issues such as planning, weather-proofing and linking outdoor and indoor maths. Make and enjoy maths trails in your own environment and further afield. Approx 80 pages.”
Review by Helen Williams
In brief:
Interestingly, you don’t need to be outdoors for many of these activities! For me, the book’s main value is in getting children’s bottoms off the carpet listening to an adult and engaged in interactive mathematical activities with their whole bodies, wherever you are.
“Full of colour photographs that often speak for themselves”
BEAM does it again! Here is an indispensable book full of practical, exciting and high quality mathematical ideas for our youngest children based in sound early years practice and written by someone who knows what works. It is attractive, full of colour photographs that often speak for themselves.
The book is divided into the following sections:
- Creating an outdoor maths environment: with suggestions such as washing lines and pegs, balloon pumps and balloons, and what to so in inclement weather (put on a mac or put up a golf umbrella - doubles as a sun-shade!)
- The early learning goals: with activities to support each, eg shape and space; ‘ Put circles if paper on large tin trays. Dip small balls into paint and roll across the tray...
- Outdoor maths games: eg ‘Hunt the wellie’ and ‘Fill the bucket’
- Maths trails: with suggestions for number, pattern and scavenger trails
- Problem solving in the outdoor environment: “How can we find out what snails eat?” “Do the longest beans have the most seeds?”
- Maths in context: with suggestions for taking art, writing, and science outdoors
- And finally, observing and resourcing children’s play outdoors: with examples of observations to be made in the outdoor area plus a maths resource list.
Although some ideas will be familiar to experienced early years’ practitioners, it is very useful to see these with the mathematical potential drawn out and many, many ideas are new (to me, anyway).
Interestingly, you don’t need to be outdoors for many of these activities! For me, the book’s main value is in getting children’s bottoms off the carpet listening to an adult and engaged in interactive mathematical activities with their whole bodies, wherever you are.
Helen Williams • Educational consultant for early years mathematics
Paperback: 80 pages
Publisher: BEAM Education; New edition edition (30 Jun 2005)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1903142369
ISBN-13: 978-1903142363
Product Dimensions: 25.6 x 20.8 x 0.8 cm
