The 12 Activities of Christmas 10: Ten Lords A-Leaping
Get the children moving with this active maths activity, all while exploring their PSED progress. It is best suited for older children in groups from 1-8.
What you will need:
- Coloured card
- Scissors
- Shape templates (see image below or make your own out of coloured stars, squares, circles and triangles).
- Double-sided tape or blue tack
- A play area where double-sided tape/blue tack won’t damage the floor!
Preparing the activity:
- Cut the shapes out of different colours of card. Make sure you have a variety of colours for each shape, e.g. 3 blue squares, 3 red squares, 3 red triangles, 3 yellow triangles. This will need to be adult only as it requires fine cutting between the shapes.
- Arrange the cut-out shapes in a grid formation on the floor, in a random order, and secure with tape or blue tack (we don’t want any slipping!).
Doing the activity:
There are a few ways to play!
- Ask the children to jump around the shape area, shouting what shape and colour they have landed on.
- Challenge the group to cross the shape area, jumping on only one shape or only one colour.
- Shout colours and shapes and have the children race to find it first.
- Give directional instructions such as ‘move two shapes forward’ or ‘move one shape to the right’ so the children can then announce what shape they’ve landed on.
Adapting the Activity:
As this plan doesn’t exclusively focus on Christmas, there will be no problem using it as a non-Christmas activity!
Tracking the activity:
30-50 months
Mathematics: Numbers; “Uses some number names and number language spontaneously.; Uses some number names accurately in play.”
Mathematics: Shape, space and measure; “Shows an interest in shape and space by playing with shapes or making arrangements with objects.”
40-60+ months
Mathematics: Shape, space and measure; “Beginning to use mathematical names for ‘solid’ 3D shapes and ‘flat’ 2D shapes, and mathematical terms to describe shapes.; Selects a particular named shape.”
