Space to play: games and activities for spatial concepts in primary school children

Abstract

Spatial concepts are amongst the most important mathematical concepts that young children develop. Ideas of shape, size, and position are part of the young child\u27s mathematical world from the very beginning. The spatial environment of the child is always changing. Objects move around in his environment, just as he moves around and observes them from different positions. The relationships between objects and their relative shapes, sizes and positions are constantly changing. In our teaching of the Space strand of the primary mathematics syllabus, we are trying to develop in children the understanding and skills associated with spatial relationships that are important and appropriate to them. The games and activities presented here are for the enjoyment and stimulation of the children in your class and focus on two important spatial concepts. The first of these is the idea of a boundary, and the second is the idea of scale. We believe that the children in your class will enjoy learning about these ideas through playing the games and doing the activities we have written