Mathematics
Welcome to the Maths Learning Zone
On this page you will find fun and engaging mathematical games and resources to help you consolidate and pre learn important maths skills. There are a variety of links that can be used on a computer or tablet, as well as links to download iPad/tablet apps and books to purchase.
Maths Activities to do at home
- Shopping can be a fun time to do some maths. What is the most expensive thing in the trolley? How much will all the shopping cost? How much does it weigh?
- Money will often catch a child’s attention. How much? Who has the most? Can you make 50p? Can you make £1? Do you have enough money to buy…? How much more do you need?
- Maths when out and about can help engage a child. How long will it take? What time do you think we will arrive? How many numbers can you spot on the way? 5 points for each yellow car. Who can spot the cheapest petrol station?
- Playing a game with dice is fun and can give your child the chance to add dice, double scores, half scores, and just counting out the totals as the piece moves on the board. Recognising the number of dots is a mathematical skill called subitising.
Times tables
By the end of year four, all children should know their times tables up to 12 x 12 (and the division facts associated with them).
Some tips for learning tricky times tables
- The 2s, 4s and 8 times tables are doubles of each other - with many common answers - 2x8=16, 4x4=16, 8x2 = 16.
- For the 9 times table, you can use the ten times tables and work back or compensate - so for 5 x 9, think (5 x 10) - 5 = 50 - 5 = 45. Also note that the digits in the answer always add to 9. There's also a finger method.
- The 7 times tables are hard but if you've done the other tables first you will find you have encountered most of the 7s already elsewhere - such as 7x4=28, 7x3=21.
- 7 x 8 = 56 (56 = 7 x 8) is one of the hardest times table! But remember 5, 6, 7, 8.
Remember to keep practising your times tables using TTRockstars (https://ttrockstars.com/).
TTRockstars is an app and online platform that we use in the Junior School to practise times tables.
https://ttrockstars.com/parents/
The link includes:
Information on the importance of times tables
TTRS intro video
Parent guide PDF
FAQs answered
Free downloadables
times table songs
Times tables songs are a fun way to learn your tables. Here are some links to some recommended times table songs for your 3 to 12 times tables.
times table games
Other maths resources
Here are a range of fun interactive games for you and your child to play at home, in order to improve their maths skills.
maths dictionary
Addition and subtraction
division
place value
Telling the time
maths games / apps
Topics include: multiplication, addition, reading numbers, subtraction, fractions of numbers, Roman numerals, division, converting fractions to decimals and percentages and simplifying fractions.
Have fun with Puzzles, Numbers, Strategy, Logic and Multiplayer Games
Educational games aimed at children between 5 and 8 years old
maths books
For parents
Maths on the Go: 101 Fun Ways to Play with Maths by Rob Eastaway and Mike Askew
101 fun maths games and activities for parents to play with kids aged 4 to 14
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maths-Go-101-Ways-Play/dp/0224101625
Maths for Mums and Dads by Mike Askew and Rob Eastaway
Maths for Mums and Dads guides you through the basics of primary school maths.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maths-Mums-Dads-Mike-Askew/dp/0224086359
For children
99 Maths Puzzles (Usborne Puzzle Books)
Children can keep their brains active and practice their number skills with this handy paperback book, packed with full-colour puzzles to test your numeracy.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maths-Puzzles-Usborne-Puzzle-Activity/dp/1409584607
Infinity and Me (7+)
Uma can't help feeling small when she peers up at the night sky. She begins to wonder about infinity. Is infinity a number that grows forever? Is it an endless racetrack? Could infinity be in an ice cream cone? Uma soon finds that the ways to think about this big idea may just be . . . infinite.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Infinity-Me-Carolrhoda-Picture-Books/dp/0761367268
The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdös (7+)
Most people think of mathematicians as solitary, working away in isolation. And, it's true, many of them do. But Paul Erdös never followed the usual path. At the age of four, he could ask you when you were born and then calculate the number of seconds you had been alive in his head. But he didn't learn to butter his own bread until he turned twenty. Instead, he traveled around the world, from one mathematician to the next, collaborating on an astonishing number of publications. With a simple, lyrical text and richly layered illustrations, this is a beautiful introduction to the world of math and a fascinating look at the unique character traits that made "Uncle Paul" a great man.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boy-Who-Loved-Math-Improbable/dp/1596433078
Can you Solve my Problems? by Alex Bellos (11+)
This book contains 125 of the world's best brainteasers from the last two millennia, taking us from ancient China to medieval Europe, Victorian England to modern-day Japan, with stories of espionage, mathematical breakthroughs and puzzling rivalries along the way. Some solutions rely on a touch of cunning, others call for creativity, others need mercilessly logical thought. All are guaranteed to sharpen your mind!
A Mathematical Pandora's Box by Brian Bolt (11+)
Through his own experience, Brian Bolt has discovered a worldwide interest in mathematical puzzles. Bolt not only uses them to stimulate creative thinking, but also to open up new areas of mathematics to the reader. This book contains 142 activities: in addition to puzzles, there are games, tricks, models and explanation of various phenomena. They range from number manipulation, through happy and amicable numbers, coin puzzles, picnicking bears and pentominoes, to building shapes with cubes. There is a detailed commentary at the end of the book, giving solutions and explanations, together with the occasional follow-up problem.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematical-Pandoras-Box-Brian-Bolt/dp/0521446198
