Outdoor Noughts & Crosses
This activity is a fun and engaging way to develop a love and appreciation for Maths and how it shapes our everyday life. It’s also a great way to enhance children’s natural curiosity of nature through play and to experience turn taking, strategic thinking and logical games.
You will need:
• Sticks
• Pebbles
• Pinecones
• Chalks
The activity:
1. Explore outdoors and collect a number of resources
2.Place the sticks in a grid to make the squared structure
3.Discuss having two groups of objects - pebbles and pinecones
4.Talk about needing a partner to play this game 5.Take it in turns to place the objects. Whoever gets their three objects in a row, wins!
TOP TIP:
• Playing this game outdoors means that it can be done on a larger scale - collect large sticks and stones to make the activity energetic.
Extending the activity:
• Increase the size of the grid: what happens when the game is played with 4X4 grid?
The winner has to achieve a straight line
• What happens if 3 people play?
How this supports knowledge & development: Children need time to learn the game by just enjoying the experience and having fun!
Outdoor maths helps to:
• Develop the concept of decision making, thinking logically and turn taking
• Maths positional language of the next, corner, straight and lines
Questions to ask:
• Does it matter who goes first?
• What would happen if…?
• What did you learn from that round?
