Maths Made Fun Primary teaching resources for Maths are able to bring to life what could well be a dry topic. A decent understanding of maths is an important tool for children to learn, and the faster they get a good grasp of numbers the better. The time was teachers would spend long hours devising and creating tools with which to make maths an enjoyable visual experience. These days, though, there are a selection of primary teaching resources on the market which engage with girls and boys on a strong visual level.
Primary school children may not yet have strong reading or numerical schools (that, after all, is why they are primary school children), but their visual skills are as strong as any. That’s why the best
primary teaching resources have a strong visual element. Common images children can relate to are used to teach numeracy in a fun manner.
Currency is taught using cards depicting geometric sweets; each sweet represents a single unit, boxes of sweets stand for tens and jars of sweets represent hundreds. It’s much less dry than discussing pence pounds. The majority of children of primary school age will never have handled cash, however they are only too familiar with counting out and eying up sweets. These sweet cards were the first, but now there are a variety of Place Value card sets, using distinctive fun metaphors to teach practical mathematical skills.
Fractions are described through commonly divisible items such as pizzas, pies, puddings and tarts. Similar sets enable the same subject areas to be taught but with marginally different focus, making sure that children can separate and identify the discrete tasks involved in more elaborate sums (e.g. facts to 10 can be taught in different ways with Digit Pop Ups, Busy Boats, Zillions, Wish Fish and Lady Bugs). The Monster Number Line goes further, teaching numbers as high as 30, 50 or even 100 depending on the abilities and aptitude of the children.
It can be difficult to get boys to engage with maths. Number lines and missing numbers are taught with X-Planes, while Footie Facts frames those same digits and bonds to 10 or doubles in a manner that many young boys will find engaging and interesting.
The Multiplication Rainbow has been a particular success. IEssentially a redesigned multiplication table. Rather than having the digits in strict lines and columns, they are arranged along the cures and colours of a rainbow. Numbers are arranged along arcs of the rainbow, rather than in rows and columns. The reverse is left blank so the children can fill it in themselves.
Playground Pictures extend the learning experience into the playground or garden. PVC wall pictures put across important literacy or numeracy information in a bold and colourful manner. Available pictures include rabbits, caterpillars and flowers. All can be easily fixed to walls or fences with glue, screws or nails.
Primarily, the items will make learning fun. Principles which may seem all to easy to grown ups demand a lots of memorisation by a young child. Using fun, relatable concepts makes that job so much easier for them.