Let's Get Maths Moving! Part 3

Here’s the final two movement activities in this blog series to get the maths in your classroom moving! These are two of my personal favourites (best ‘til last) so I hope you enjoy them, too!

1.Clumps

• Have children walking in the space. 

• When you call out a number (between 1 and however many students in the class) students are to clump together in groups of that number. 

Be sure to set tasks for any remaining students when the number doesn’t divide equally: This can be doing star jumps according to the number you called out (this can be particularly playful/tricky when you have 33 in a class and you call out 32!) or, taking inspiration from the previous blog entry in this series, creating the shape of the number you called out using their bodies, either together or individually. 

Adaptations and Developments

EYFS: Merge this activity with a game of musical statues to make it more entertaining for little ones. 

This can be a great game to introduce finding a partner quickly - calling out 2 when the music stops and students finding a new partner each time.

KS1: Try calling out some sums whereby the answer (unannounced) is the number of people there should be in each clump. E.g. 5+2 = (clumps of 7). 10 - 6 = (clumps of 4).

KS2: Use sums, as KS1, but increase the difficulty according to your class’s ability. Try using fractions for division, too. Call out halves or quarters and see if your class can divide themselves up accordingly.

2. Duck n Jump!

(Also referred to as skip counting - due to the skipping of numbers.)

• Have students find their own space and crouch down (ready to jump).

• Select a times table to review. E.g. 3 times table.

• Students are to bob, crouched down for the numbers that are not multiples of 3 and then jump up for the numbers which are. For example:

  • 1 = bob

  • 2 = bob

  • 3 = jump!

  • 4 = bob

  • 5 = bob

  • 6 = jump! ...and so on.

  • Have fun utilising the voice, too. Whisper the non-multiples and shout out the multiples as you jump!

REMEMBER! You can use any actions you like. Hands on head and hands on shoulders, sit down and stand up, walking and freezing, tapping and clapping etc. Anything you - or your students - like!

Adaptations and Developments

EYFS: Of course, times tables are likely to be too advanced for 3 - 5 year olds. Use this activity instead to count up to 10. Bobbing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, jump 10.

Depending on class capability, minus a number each time:

• Bob 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, jump 9!

• Bob 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, jump 8!

• Bob 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, jump 7! ...and so on.

You can also subtly introduce odds and evens by asking students to change position each number up to 10:

• Bob 1, jump 2, bob 3, jump 4, bob 5, jump 6, bob 7, jump 8, bob 9, jump 10!

KS1: Turn it into a partner game. Have students back to back and they have to jump to face each other for each multiple. Make it competitive; if a pair jumps at the wrong time they sit out.

(All)KS2: If focusing on the voice in this activity, try making it a ‘rap battle’. Split the class into two groups. One group is non-multiples, one group is multiples. Students are to call out the appropriate numbers. 

Non Multiples   vs. Multiples

1, 2, 3,     4

5, 6, 7,     8

9, 10, 11, 12

...and so on.

UKS2: Instead of using times tables, try using Duck n Jump for prime numbers! These are less rhythmical and so require more focus and attention. Make it competitive by ‘outing’ kids who forget to jump or jump at the wrong time. Who can be the last one standing?

When researching for this blog series I found some other useful websites doing similar creative work. If you’re keen on getting maths moving be sure the check out Math and Movement (who do a great variation of Duck n Jump!), Dance Advantage and Math4Love for some more ideas!

If you like our blogs and put any of our activities into action, we’d love to know how you get on! Feel free to tweet us any feedback, photos or videos at @WestEndinSchool.

-Sarah