Maths skills for age 6–7
Developing maths skills and understanding
Your child will now be developing their confidence in working with and using numbers, including working out mathematical problems or calculations in their head. These ideas will help your child to build on their understanding of maths, and to see how their maths skills can be used in daily life.
Things to try with your child
1. Use maths in everyday life
Build your child’s confidence in mathematics by talking about and using maths together. You could measure ingredients for recipes together, using scales to do so. You could look at the clock together: 'If the party is at 5 o'clock we need to leave in half an hour. That'll be half past 4.' You could talk about how much things cost, paying and getting change when you go shopping. If you are making a picnic or snack together, you could talk about how many people are eating and how food items can be shared out equally. Make fruit drinks and talk about how much fruit juice there is compared to water: 'We put in a little bit of juice. Then we topped up with water. We put in about 10 times more water than juice.'
Want to read an eBook about time? Try this (you'll need to register for free or sign in to access it):
2. Think about maths
As well as encouraging your child to see how maths is used in everyday life, encourage them to think about how they are using number. Ask your child to explain their thinking when they work out an answer: ‘How did you know that? What did you do?’ When you are out and about, at home, or playing a maths game with your child, ask questions that encourage them to sequence and plan their calculations: ‘What will you do first? What will you do next?’
Want to try a fun addition activity? Try this:
3. Practise times tables
Most schools will start with the 2, 5 and 10 times tables and then move to more difficult ones. You can help your child by showing them real-life examples of a times table. For example, a muffin tin will normally have four rows of three muffin cups each, showing the multiplication 4 × 3. Find opportunities to sing and chant times tables together, for example, in the car or on the walk to school.
Want some activities to practise multiplication? Try these:
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4. Estimate and measure
Use a stop watch to time how long it takes to do everyday tasks like getting dressed. Encourage your child to estimate first: 'How long do you think it will take us to walk to the shop?' Other things you could estimate and then find are:
- something that is longer, shorter, lighter or heavier, than a chosen object
- how many crayons end-to-end would go from the sofa to the door
- which will take longer – to walk to the door or write your name
- how many pennies it will take to cover a book cover.
5. Play maths games
Try these fun games with your child to practise maths skills and help to build your child's confidence. Most children love playing games and it's an easy way to support their learning.
Roll the dice!
Roll the dice and practise your addition, subtraction and multiplication skills with this fun game.
Visit our fun maths activities page for a selection of activities and resources designed to help you enjoy maths with your child.