Maths help for parents of children aged 5 to 11

Kipper’s Toybox by Mick Inkpen
Kipper’s Toybox (Kipper)

If you are looking for a great book to help with early counting then Kipper’s Toybox is a must.
Kipper is a cheeky little puppy who is concerned that somebody or something is nibbling a hole in his toybox and that his toys might not be safe. But, the trouble is, that every time he counts them he gets a different number. To make it easier to count  he lines them up.
Then, one night, one of his toys appears to have come to life!
Colourful illustrations and a great story line makes this a fabulous book for all 3+ children.
It could also be used as the basis of a great counting activity at home. Use a box with 5 toys, count them as you put them in. Take one away, count them again and see if your child can spot which one is missing.

Jim and the Beanstalk (Puffin Picture Books)This is a rewrite of the famous Jack tale by Raymond Briggs. Just like Jack, Jim wakes up to find a tall plant growing outside his house. He climbs up to the top where there is a huge house. A very old giant lives in the house – not the nasty sort of giant in the traditional tale, but an unhappy one who no longer eats three boys on toast for breakfast! Jim gets the giant some large glasses, giant false teeth and a very red wig!

The ending is lovely and there is some great mathematical language in this book, mainly to do with size and shape. Perfect for 3 to 5 years old.

Why not take your child through an imaginary climb up the beanstalk to meet the giant?

Seven Dizzy Dragons and Other Maths Rhymes by Sue Atkinson

‘Big books’ tend to be used only in schools as they are great for a teacher to sit with the class and look at the story. They also tend to be quite expensive and not easily available in book shops. This great book can be purchased as a ‘Big Book’ or as a paperback, but it is not easy to find.

However, I have put ‘Seven Dizzy Dragons and Other Maths Rhymes’ in my collection as it really is a great set of rhymes.
It contains 28 counting and number rhymes, including counting up in ones, twos, threes, and so on, odd and even numbers, patterns of numbers, ordinal numbers, number bonds to ten, and early addition and subtraction.

There are lots of ways to enjoy this book including learning and reciting the rhymes together and it is a great resource to help with early counting and number.

Two by Two by Barbara Reid
This book is a real must for any parent who loves sitting down and looking at books with their young children. Written in rhymes to tell the story of Noah’s Ark you will find your child returning again and again to their favourite pages.
One of the best aspects of the book is the amazing 3-D sculptured animals, but the book can be enjoyed in a number of ways. The rhymes can be read or sung and children can soon learn them or just look at the animals and talk about them and the tricks they get up to.
The animals come in two by two, three by three, four by four etc so it is easy to incorporate a little maths.

Cockatoos (Red Fox Picture Books)Another great book from Quentin Blake which will help children with their counting. The star of the book is a very fuddy duddy old chap called Professor Dupont. His day never changes; every morning washing, dressing, putting on his tie, going downstairs etc etc he sticks to the same routine which includes welcoming his ten cockatoos with exactly the same phrase every day,
“Good morning, my fine feathered friends!”
Now, the cockatoos are very, very bored with this routine and one day decide to play a trick on Professor Dupont. When he opens the conservatory doors to say good morning they have all gone!
The rest of the book is for the reader to find each of them, because the Prof just cannot find them.
Of course there is a happy ending. Some parents might themselves find this a little tedious but in my experience children (2 – 5) certainly don’t, so if you haven’t already, sit down and read it with them.

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins.
A great writer of children’s picture books, Pat Hutchins has created a wonderfully simple book which helps with the very earliest understanding of sharing. Mum has made 12 scrumptious cookies for her two children – obviously they are going to get lots each. They count them and find that they are going to get six each but then the doorbell rings and friends arrive to share the cookies. Each time the doorbell rings there is less for each child until they are down to only one each. Then the doorbell rings again!!

Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang

To celebrate World Book Day, a few words about one of my favourite books for young children to help them with their maths.

Whatever you do, don’t miss this book if you have young children about to enter school. A counting book, in this case counting down from ten toes, nine friends etc as a father and young daughter get ready for bed.

The characters are interesting, an African-American family, and the warm colours of the illustrations really are a delight. Each page has a warm, comforting glow, perfect for a bedtime story.

I know of several children who have memorised the whole book – always a good sign!

Mister Magnolia

Written in the 1980s this is a great little story that is excellent for encouraging understanding of pairs and odd and even numbers. In this book Mr Magnolia leads a really happy life apart from one rather strange thing – he only has one boot. Written more or less as nonsense verse it appeals to children with imagination as he has a number of very strange possessions, including a frog, a toad and a newt, some exotic birds a big purple dinosaur who’s a magnificent brute. (more…)

Five Little Ducks

Five Little Ducks is a story about… yes, you guessed it, five little ducks! They go out one day, waddling down to the pond to play.
But, as they swim and play on the pond, one of them wanders off and disappears, and then another, and another until there is just one little duck left. You are not really sure what has happened to each of the ducks, especially as there is a fox lurking in the background. However, there is a happy ending as Mama Duck finds her missing ducklings snuggled up in the garden shed. (more…)

Ten in the BedTen in the Bed by Penny Dale

Ten out of Bed by Penny Dale

Well, actually we have two great books to read to your children when they are snuggled up in bed ready to go to sleep. Most of us are aquainted with the nursery rhyme, There were ten in the bed and the little one said, “Roll over, roll over!”
They are about a young child (it could be a boy or a girl as s/he is only referred to as ‘The Little One’) who has ten cuddly animals in bed with him/her. They play games but one at a time the cuddly animals become sleepy and fall out of the bed (great for learning how to count down from 10) until the child is left all alone.
Now these toys are not all goody goodies and there is a lot of action going on in the background, allowing for new stories to be made up every evening. The endings of both books are, of course, happy ones with them all back in bed, fast asleep.