The brain likes colour

Back from England, refreshed and ready to go. I’m now wondering what supplies and ideas I can play with next year.

In an earlier post, I talked about how maths can sometimes be presented in a dull and grey way. We know the brain likes colour so why not include more colour in the maths lesson? One thing led to another and I began to think about a supplies list for maths next year.

Top of the list: coloured paper and mark making equipment. Checkout the piece below and you will begin to see that hole punches and glue sticks might be fun too.

Also on the list, brilliant picture books, even with older students. The butterfly was triggered by, 'Lots of Spots' by Lois Ehlert. I have written to her to ask if I can create and publish some activities based on this book.

As I looked at the book, the combination of fun, colour and  maths  jumped out at me (yes I know this is not a maths book!). I was seeing symmetry, subitising, counting, comparing, estimating and fractions with mental computation strategies all in just a flick through.

Then of course I had to play. I folded a piece of paper in half and drew a butterfly. Then I punched some holes. Before opening it I used a doubles fact to work out how many holes I would see. I also visualised roughly what the butterfly would look like when I opened it up. Then the moment I opened it and looked at it, I thought it was a bit boring so punched out some holes in a different colour and placed them carefully so that the line of symmetry was not disturbed.

As I looked, I couldn’t help but wonder what fraction of the spots were yellow. But there was still something missing...

We know we need to make connections between mathematical ideas and to consider the ways in which different aspects of maths are related. This little exercise crossed many normally atomised areas of the maths curriculum into one fun but rigorous activity. It links visual imagery, symmetry, fractions, halving and doubling for number facts and estimation as well as subitisation into one easy to differentiate activity.

Let me know what you think and if you try it with your class. We’d love to see pictures, which you can send to Sarah.



'Lots of Spots' by Lois Ehlert