Welcome to the third challenge of the day for primary school children. These challenges are open-ended, purposeful tasks, differentiated for different abilities, that your child can enjoy every day. Please share your outcomes with the group to receive both teacher and peer feedback. Enjoy yourselves!
Today’s challenge is mathematical. It’s also a chance for children to rediscover toys that they can play with.
AUDIT YOUR TOYS!
ALL: The idea is to count, record and analyse the toys you have available to you in the house.
Preschoolers and Reception: Ask your child to think about the different types of toys they can see. Tell them that you need to find out how many there are. Show the chart and allow your child to draw a picture of the item. Then help them to count them accurately. A good way to do this is to move each item as it is counted. If they are able, let them write the number in the chart.
Years 1 and 2: Follow the instructions as above, but this time add the element of estimation. Can they make a sensible guess before they count? You’d be surprised how wild children’s estimates can be! Discuss how close they were. Can they make each guess more accurate?
Years 3 and 4: As above, but ask your child to calculate the difference between the estimate and the actual number of items. This is a tricky skill. Model to them how you might do it. If the numbers are close together, ‘counting on’ is a great strategy. Use a number line to show them. For example, 54 – 45 – you can put 45 in your head and count until you get to 54 (9).
Years 5 and 6 and Beyond: Follow the instructions as above and then make a bar chart to show their findings. Think carefully about how to organise and present the data accurately.
Please don’t feel you have to stick to the year group options; let your child choose the option that best suits them. We’d love you to share the results online in our group for peer and teacher feedback. Enjoy!
Ask A Teacher and Challenge of the day are run on a voluntary basis by Bella Learning. If you have a child aged 3, 4 or 5, you may be interested in purchasing this Bella Learning Games pack – another fun way to keep learning going at home. NOW HALF PRICE!
