Family numeracy game
Inspired by a trip to the zoo, the parents of nursery children at Brunstane Primary School, Edinburgh, worked with their children, and Family Learning, to produce a fun board game which aims to help children learn basic numeracy skills.
The nursery parents and Family Learning worker Barbara Middleton met on Tuesdays at 9am on a weekly basis over a period of three months to produce the game, gaining motivation from the ‘Total Numeracy’ Edinburgh teacher’s pack for early Primary and reading current research into the importance of learning through games. Colourful animal drawings were provided by Primary 1 pupils.
In the game each player is represented by a multicultural figure which moves around the jungle board by throwing a die and counting on. As players make their way along the jungle path they pick up tasks from differently coloured, maths related activity cards and the winner reaches the jungle party at the end.
Yellow rectangle, 'number' cards and turquoise circle, 'discovery' cards ask pupils to, for example, count the stripes on the tiger's tail, or to say which hippopotamus is blowing the smallest bubbles. Pink star, 'fun' cards may ask a player to make a face like a monkey or a noise like an elephant.
Clydesdale Bank funded the project and production of the materials, which were produced in house by Family Learning to give games to each pre-school child and existing P1 pupils. The games packs have been taken home so that children can play interactively with their parents or friends.
The learning is visual, kinaesthetic and auditory and a fun way to learn about aspects of number, shape and measure.The innovative work of the Family Learning Parents' Group has recently been rewarded by winning a Standard Life Edinburgh Achievement Award of a trophy and £500 which the team hope to put towards the production of more games.