Lots more beach focus today for those who live near our bells/on the beach/are on beach holidays.... Maths is important, and revisiting each day for 10 minutes is really helpful for children. But it doesn't have to be a dreary textbook.... physical maths is vital for young and old children to remember simple and more complex skills. Todays activity requires some shells (stones work just as well though).... simple!
Start by creating a simple repeating pattern and asking your child to finish the pattern off. If the child is very young, you might want to draw around the shells in the sand (if its sandy!) to finish the pattern then pop them to one side for the child to select. You can repeat this as many times as it is needed, with different shells or different patterns.
Once they have done this, ask them to make one for you and see if you can complete it. If your child is older, try and see if they can catch you out by making a more complicated repeating pattern! You can do the same for them and then swap patterns to finish. We often have a competition to see if we can make 5 different repeating patterns...
Finally, you can play about with shapes and make some lovely pictures with shells or play by making shell or stone 2D and 3D shapes - there is a post here to help with that! Enjoy!
