2011 - Christmas Activities eBook

Board games offer wonderful opportunities for children to be involved in meaningful mathematical discussion - we cannot let this pass, so have a bumper collection of games here:.

Cross the Snow a strategy chase game for two players, Key Stage 1 or 2 - can you get Santa across the hexagonal blocks of snow before the Snowman?

50 Stars Game an addition and subtraction game for Key Stage 1 children. A simple print-out and colour in activity - but with more depth than usual... and a Nativity theme!

Race To The Top a colourful two-player game focusing on factors and products.Ideal for Key Stage 2 children getting to grips with times tables.

Santa's Parcels is another Key Stage 2 game, this one focusing on fractions.

Spiral 100 another two-player game for Key Stage 2 - this one involves moving around a spiral board and answering questions... the included questions focus on number facts (knowledge of square numbers, primes and factors, for example); however, this game could easily be adapted to a different focus by preparing additional question cards.

Santa's Bridge - a coin puzzle, turned into a two-player Christmas-themed game.

8 PUZZLES

The following activities all offer excellent opportunities for children to use and apply their mathematical skills, to be involved in 'reasoning' and to develop their thinking skills.

Christmas Tree Puzzles - addition and subtraction meets logic and Fir trees!

Tri Tangram our Easter tangram was such a success we knew we would need a tangram for Christmas. We chose this very simple three-piece one - its ideal for Key Stage 1 children, not because the shapes are tricky to find, but because the activities are based on identifying shapes and their properties rather than on creating different creative items.

FlapJack a Christmas baking activity... without the baking. The flapjack has already been made; we have a picture of it... the challenge is to calculate with the currants lying on the surface of the flapjack... There are (at least) four different ways of making 9, can you find them?

Place Value Labels - you may have seen these already (here), we have three more in the eBook: 3-digits, 4-digits and a decimal version.

Mini Sudoku Booklet - the ever-popular puzzle gets yet another mathstick face-lift. There is plenty of logical thinking, reasoning and decision-making necessary to solve these puzzles. We've put eight 6 by 6 Sudoku puzzles together into a unique mini-book that can be sent home or used in class.

Christmas Subtraction Windows - here, the children are challenged to complete a set of 3x3 windows by following a simple subtraction rule. The first few of these are straightforward; however, the latter ones offer more of a challenge... The pack includes two sheets with a range of numbers, and a third, blank, sheet so you (or the children) can extend the work further.

Reindeer Weights - How heavy was Cupid? A conversion of units worksheet based on kg and grams... that's the starting point, we then take this further and convert between kg and a few mythical Elven units!

Christmas Cracker X-numbers - This was very popular last year, so we have added a slightly larger version in this eBook - we also include a 'blank' template so you (or the children) can generate new ones based on any specific maths concept.

3 CALENDAR ACTIVITIES

Finally there are three resources based on the calendar.

Cover a Date - a calculation activity using a calendar and three dice.

Calendar Problem - a problem solving investigation based on calendar dates

Important Events - a simple worksheet to enable children to order personal events and/or festivals, celebrations and school events.

Many of the resources and activities feature colour, but will work equally well as black and white photocopies.

The material is ideal for in-class use, but can also be used as homework activities to support general class teaching.

As you would expect, the eBooklet is a high quality 42 page, A4 pdf file. As well as all of the activities and templates listed above, the eBook also describes the activities and offers (in typical mathsticks style) additional ideas and guidance.

Please note: this is a 'paid-for download' for £4.00. [Why?]

All payments are made via PayPal. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use the service - all major credit cards are accepted. We have opted to use PayPal because of their strong security systems, and their ability to fully guarantee all your financial details against misuse.