‘We all know that children taking a break over the summer holidays is important, allowing them to recharge their batteries,’ say, Lois Gaffney, Head of Prince’s Gardens Preparatory School in Kensington. ‘This year in particular the summer break may have been a good opportunity for normalcy, reconnecting with friends and family and working on the social skills many of us haven’t been able to use in recent years.’
‘However, it’s important the long break isn’t hitting the pause button on other skills too, such as maths, as it can cause regression and result in a loss of the knowledge your child has picked up during the previous academic year.’
When it comes to certain kinds of knowledge, children really do have to “use it or lose it”,’ Mrs Gaffney says, ‘but this doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect and learning in the holidays can be fun for both you and your child, making the most of being away from the usual classroom setting.’
If you want to ensure your child is practising those all-important maths skills during the long breaks Mrs Gaffney suggests trying some of these outdoor maths activities:
- Get the chalk out and explore maths in a more visual sense. For young children, make up games that require them to draw a number or a sequence of numbers. Make it more fun by adding an element of competition: “Can you draw the numbers 1 to 10 in 2 minutes?” Ask your child to draw the numbers 1 to 10 in a line, then call out equations and ask them to solve the equation by jumping onto the correct answer. You can also chalk numbers on walls or fences. Give your child a fly swatter or something similar and ask them a maths question. Your child can then run and splat the number which represents the answer.
- When out and about, choose a topic e.g., transport, and make up your own survey. Ask your child to note how many cars of each colour they see, use a tally chart to take down the information and then use the data to practise their skills. Can they draw a bar graph or a pie chart using the information they gathered?
- There’s nothing better than a picnic! Ask your child to plan what to buy for a picnic; provide them with a budget and ask them to make a list of items with prices within that budget. They should then make sure they plan for everyone to get an equal share of everything, e.g., How many tomatoes are in a packet? How many per person? How many packets will we need?
- Collect sticks outside and use string or tape to tie the corners together to make 3D shapes, discussing the number of sides each shape has and the angles you can see. You can also make 2D shapes such as a square and practice how these go together to form a cube.
Whether you try one of these activities with your child or come up with something similar, Mrs Gaffney believes the outdoors is a paradise when it comes to opportunities for maths practice. ‘There are so many fun activities that will keep young brains abreast of concepts and skills and the best part is they won’t even realise they’re learning!’
If you would like to learn more about Prince’s Gardens Preparatory School, visit their website at www.princesgardensprep.co.uk or contact their Admissions team: call 020 7591 4620 or email admissions@princesgardensprep.co.uk
You can also read other related articles by Prince’s Gardens Preparatory School here.
