Mathematical learning need not be a dull or daunting prospect, thanks to the ability of well-equipped outside spaces to let children immerse themselves in complex ideas while at play.

There are many opportunities for children to develop mathematical ideas in the outdoors. To be effective, however, the experiences need to be practical and repeated many times, and offered in several different ways, so that the children can internalise the concepts and reach a stage of 'knowing'. It's important, too, to avoid rushing children into abstract ideas before they have a wide base of experience on which to build. To achieve this, practitioners need to be clear about what is relevant and what is not.

In Threads of Thinking (2nd edition, Chapter 5), Cathy Nutbrown refers to research which produced evidence of children investigating a variety of mathematical and scientific ideas through natural schematic play. These included spatial order, size and shape, number, sorting, measure, time, position and estimation.

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