Year 1

Using Our Maths A

Following Units 1-6

These activities bring together the different mathematical skills that your child should now know. By combining these skills in puzzles and activities your child will need to reason and think of solutions, as well as complete calculations. This will help your child to really understand the skills they are learning.

Talk through each group of questions and ask your child how they are going to solve the challenges.

It’s good to get stuck sometimes! When this happens discuss the challenge in the following order:

• What do we need to find out to solve the challenge?
• What do we know by looking at the question?
• Want could we do first?
• How would that help us?

Is there anything else we could do?

Activity 1: Counting Games in everyday life

To deepen your child’s ability to count, and their understanding of the value of numbers, try these counting games. The secret is to make counting forwards and backwards into a game, using things your child is interested in.

Count stairs as you go up, counting backwards as you go down.
Ask your child how many times they can skip, jump, hop… counting as they go.
Ask your child to count their toys e.g. as they set out model figures.
Out and about try counting shells on the beach, flowers in the park, red cars as you drive.
Ask your child “What shall we count today?”

Start with numbers they are confident with and then build to higher numbers, especially the numbers between 11 and 19 which many children find difficult.

Activity 2: Dice Game

Take 2 dice. Roll them and add up the 2 numbers that appear.
Try this 6 times and see how many different totals your child can make.
Now ask your child how they could find all the possible addition totals that can be made with 2 dice. Help them to come up with a logical strategy e.g. starting with one number on one dice and then changing the number on the
second dice.
This will help with their number bonds and with their mathematical thinking.
If they find this easy, try with 3 dice.
You will need to help your child to record this (or record it for them) to keep a track of the answer.