This outdoor maths unit makes subtraction active, visual, and meaningful for young learners. Children will explore subtraction through nature-based activities, movement games, and real-world contexts, from writing subtraction statements to practising counting backwards and finding the difference. Each lesson builds fluency, strengthens vocabulary, and keeps engagement high with practical, hands-on learning in your outdoor space.
Lesson Plans
Representing subtraction using pictures and objects
During this outdoor lesson your children will identify representations of numbers in nature, use natural loose parts and subtraction stories to investigate the process of subtraction and introduce themselves to subtraction vocabulary.
Learning objective:
To represent subtraction using objects and pictures.
Deliver an outdoor maths lesson that deepens the children’s fluency and understanding of counting backwards whilst using movement to engage them in their learning.
Deepen your children’s understanding of finding the difference by practising this skill in context in your outdoor space. Other activities include using physical movement to practise recalling mathematical vocabulary.
During this outdoor lesson your children will enjoy playing a classic playground game with a twist, hunting for statements, using comparison sticks and conclude with a discussion to demonstrate their learning throughout the unit.