What a wonderful, hands-on maths lesson we had today! Years 1 and 2 took their place value learning outdoors to consolidate their understanding of teen numbers using natural materials and physical movement.
Using our natural surroundings, the children represented the place value of each teen number:
- The Whole Hoop: Held the total teen number card (e.g., 14).
- The 'Tens' Hoop: Held sticks to represent the group of 10.
- The 'Ones' Hoop: Held individual leaves to represent the remaining ones.
By physically moving items from the main 'whole' hoop into the two 'part' hoops, the children could clearly see that a number like 14 is made up of 1 ten (1 stick) and 4 ones (4 leaves).
Try it at home!
- Ask your child to tell you how many tens and ones are in numbers like 13, 16, or 18!
- Next time you're at the park, gather a stick (for 10) and some leaves (for ones) to build different teen numbers together.
