Pirate Maths Doubling Numbers

This week at school Adam has been learning to double numbers. He has become fascinated by the topic so I wanted to create a doubling activity that he could play with independently. Pop over to Rainy Day Mum to read out guest post – How To Teach Doubles With A Mirror. Adam loved the activity so much that I wanted to create a similar activity but with a pirate theme. Check out our Pirate Maths Doubling Numbers activity.

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Resources needed for Pirate Maths Doubling Numbers

* A mirror – within a childcare setting you will need to use a plastic mirror. These come in a range of sizes including A6, A5 and A4.

* Pirate Themed Foam Craft Stickers

* Pirate Gold Coins (not pictures)

* Two treasure chests similar to these (optional)

* Small Melamine Tray similar to this

* Craft Foam – we opted for yellow

* Round Wooden Lolly Stick

* Skull and cross bone cardboard bunting (optional)

* Playpit Sand (not pictured)

How to set up Pirate Maths Doubling Numbers

1. Place Pirate Gold Coins and the boat stickers from the Pirate Themed Sticker pack into two treasure chests. These will be the items used when doubling. We are still recycling our gold coins that we used in our X Marks The Spot Tuff Spot from two years ago.

2. Decorate the “Pirate Doubles” mirror using the Pirate Themed Stickers. Ensure that the stickers cannot be seen reflected in the mirror.

3. Make a sword mark making pencil using the Craft Foam and the Round Wooden Lolly Stick. Take the craft foam and cut out a rectangle with round corners. Use scissors to make two holes at either end and insert the wooden lolly stick.

4. Pour Playpit Sand into the small melamine tray so that it covers the bottom.

How to play Pirate Maths Doubling Numbers

I set the scene by explaining to Adam that the Pirate Mirror was a magic mirror. If you place buried treasure in front of the mirror then it will double the amount – even more treasure for the pirates. He positioned one pirate coin in front of the mirror and counted how many coins he could see altogether. He then wrote a simple number sentence in the sand using the sword mark maker.

Adam couldn’t wait to see if the magic pirate mirror would double any more money. First he had to clear the number sentence in the sand. You could gently shake the tray but we found that the numbers could still be seen. So we improvised and used a piece of skull and bones cardboard bunting to smooth down the sand ready to start again.

After repeating the activity with several coins, Adam wanted to see if the mirror would double the amount of pirate ships. In an instant the mirror doubled the pirate fleet of ships.

Adam is used to writing about doubling using two different methods; as an addition number sentence and as a statement ie double 2 = 4. Unfortunately there was not enough space within the sensory sand to write the word “double” so we improvised.

I loved how independent Adam could be during this activity. He could choose how many items he used and it was great to watch him experiment to see if he got the same answer when doubling coins compared to doubling ships. Our Pirate Maths Doubling Numbers activity kept Adam occupied for ages and is something that he keeps returning to. It’s a great hands on learning activity with an added mark making sensory element.

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Emma Edwards

During a difficult pregnancy suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) Emma vowed to make every day an adventure once she had recovered. Adventures of Adam is the outcome of completing a 100 day play challenge with Adam as part of that promise. Emma has a section dedicated to HG friendly play activities so that Mums can still be part of their children’s play whilst they are ill.

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