Maths & Maps? 

I apologise for the quality of these photos. They are oldies but goodies 🥰

I often hear from people who are daunted by doing maths at home with their kids, but there are so many different ways to approach the subject. It doesn't have to be all textbooks and worksheets :)

Take the top photo, for instance, of the compass and map. It's one of the suggested activities in Picture Book Explorers ~ Oscar, Cat-about-town. I was inspired by a short phrase in the story about one place being 20 miles away from another. We got out a map, found our village and used a compass to circle a 20 mile radius around it to find out just how far that is.

Sounds fairly simple, right? Here are 10 things my kids learnt from this single activity.
1. They learnt how to set up a compass - the pencil point must be level with the needle tip when the compass is closed.

2. They learnt how to draw circles with a compass - a skill that takes time to master.

3. They were introduced to the maths language for circles. There were no worksheets involved. They learnt through the conversation that happened naturally as we worked together to complete this task. This gave me the opportunity to check their understanding without the need for testing.

4. We talked about scale and how long distances are represented on paper.

5. We talked about metric and imperial measurements and about how we use both in the UK, depending on what we're measuring - roads in miles, planks of wood in mm!
6. They used the bar scale on the map to set the compass to get the required diameter for their circle.

7. They explored the places inside the circle they had drawn, discussing place-names and terrain.

8. They learnt about the map key by investigating the symbols inside the circle.

9. We talked about places we had visited and places we would like to visit.

10. They helped to plan a day out, then we visited one of the places they had chosen and enjoyed the spontaneous learning that a day out always bring.

All in all, they really enjoyed themselves and so did I. There are practical maths activities in all the Picture Book Explorers packs. On there own, the activities are not a complete maths curriculum, but they can help to introduce maths topics or revise ones already covered. More than that, they encourage a positive can-do attitude to maths by making it fun 🥰

Happy Exploring!