Lower primary kids

Want to build maths into your everyday life?  Try these really simple ideas and games:

• Repeat all the toddler things, but with numbers to ten.
• Ask the kids to get numbers of items in the shop (e.g. 8 apples)
• Make “cool high fives” by using some fingers on each hand (e.g. 3 on one hand and 2 on the other).  Repeat with other numbers bigger than 5.
• Cut bread in half in different ways and decide that no matter what shape it is, both halves are the same.
• Give all the toast for the whole family cut into halves on the one plate (or apples, or other fruit).  Ask how many pieces of bread or fruit you started with.
• Play “what am I spying?” instead of “I spy”:  Describe a 3D object that you can see, one clue at a time, while the other people try to guess what it is.  (e.g. My object is bigger than the TV.  It has smooth sides that are rectangles.  It is white.  It has two doors on it.  It is very cold.)
• Look at maps of where you are going and let the kids try to follow the map while you get there.  Find your street on a map.
• When another family is coming to dinner ask the kids how many people there will be.  So how many pieces of broccoli will we need if everyone has two?
• Work out how many pieces of pizza you need for your family and how many pizzas that would be.
• Talk about how likely things are to happen (e.g. it is very likely to rain tomorrow so we had better pack your rain coat). Consider things that are totally made up in their games or that they see on TV too – how likely is it that the dinosaur bones that David Attenborough was just looking at actually came to life and walked around the museum?
• Get them to budget their pocket money (e.g. have a money box with four categories: spending, saving, charity and gifts).  Work out how many weeks it would be before they could buy a certain toy.
• Get the kids to work out how many minutes it is until something happens (e.g. how long until your swimming lesson?).  Both digital and analogue clocks are great for this.