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Outdoor Math: Fun Activities for Every Season
In this innovative book, Emma Adbåge encourages children to get outside, where they can have fun interacting with the natural world while learning math. Adbåge has created twenty-two outdoor activities, organized by season. Through play, children will learn about numeracy and arithmetic, as well as math concepts such as shapes, time, greater/less than, even and odd numbers, patterns and grids. The activities have simple-to-follow instructions and are accompanied by adorable illustrations that provide clear visual demonstrations. The natural materials required --- stones, pinecones, snowballs, worms --- are easy to find in many environments. Supplementary spreads introduce the numbers 1 to 10 and further explore addition/subtraction and multiplication/division, with simplified explanations and illustrated examples. Studies have shown that learning outdoors helps kids retain information and skills, and that physically active children perform better in a variety of subjects --- including math. This book could be used alongside other math coursework all school year, since the activities have direct curricular applications. While the thrust of the book is math, there are also science lessons here, particularly regarding the properties of nature and how things change during the four seasons. Many of the activities can be done in pairs or groups, promoting teamwork and cooperation. A list of activities in the back matter indexes the activities and categorizes them by the math skills they develop.
26 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2016
2 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 26, 2016
I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I must thank the publisher for sending it. I read through it last night, as did my daughter. It is going to be a great resource for both my kids and my Girl Scout troop.
November 28, 2016
Adbage, Emma Outdoor Math: Fun Activites for Every Season 25 pgs. Kids Can Press 2016. $15.95 NONFICTION
This book features quite a few ideas about how to use counting, shapes identification, and math in simple activities outside. Some include counting birds at a bird feeder, putting numbers on empty bottles for bowling –then adding up scores, making shapes in the snow and throwing snowballs into the right shape, and picks up sticks.
This book has a drab cover and very subdued illustrations, I am not sure a student would check this out on their own. It features many activities that sound like fun ideas for a classroom teacher or PE teacher, but also contains many activities that aren’t very creative; like how many times you can jump up and down in one minute. I understand they were trying to keep things simple for a young reader, but I see way more fun activities occurring everyday at recess that could easily incorporate math.
EL(K-3) - NO Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2016/...
This book features quite a few ideas about how to use counting, shapes identification, and math in simple activities outside. Some include counting birds at a bird feeder, putting numbers on empty bottles for bowling –then adding up scores, making shapes in the snow and throwing snowballs into the right shape, and picks up sticks.
This book has a drab cover and very subdued illustrations, I am not sure a student would check this out on their own. It features many activities that sound like fun ideas for a classroom teacher or PE teacher, but also contains many activities that aren’t very creative; like how many times you can jump up and down in one minute. I understand they were trying to keep things simple for a young reader, but I see way more fun activities occurring everyday at recess that could easily incorporate math.
EL(K-3) - NO Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2016/...
November 8, 2022
Outdoor Math: Fun Activities for Every Season by Emma Adbge (Kids Can Press, 2016) is a helpful book for a parent trying to sneak math into everyday play! It won't even feel like sneaking, because the math games suggested will be fun for preschoolers or lower elementary students.
In sections labeled by season, Outdoor Math suggests ways to practice counting, addition, division, coordinates, mapping, multiplication, shapes subtraction, and even telling the time. The activities use items found in nature, such as acorns, pinecones, and rocks, to do many of the activities. Other activities require watching the animals outside in nature. A few activities suggest using a stopwatch to count what you can do in one minute.
In all, Outdoor Math is just the kind of thing I enjoyed using in my homeschool to give me ideas on making playtime count as school time. That doesn't mean that I was taking away playtime -- just that we found ourselves learning through play. That's the best way to learn!
In sections labeled by season, Outdoor Math suggests ways to practice counting, addition, division, coordinates, mapping, multiplication, shapes subtraction, and even telling the time. The activities use items found in nature, such as acorns, pinecones, and rocks, to do many of the activities. Other activities require watching the animals outside in nature. A few activities suggest using a stopwatch to count what you can do in one minute.
In all, Outdoor Math is just the kind of thing I enjoyed using in my homeschool to give me ideas on making playtime count as school time. That doesn't mean that I was taking away playtime -- just that we found ourselves learning through play. That's the best way to learn!
September 26, 2017
This has such good ideas! My favorite was “The Thief” game.
November 12, 2020
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
January 3, 2022
Some fun ideas to make math part of play outside.
March 16, 2016
Outdoor Math: Fun Activities for Every Season by Emma AdBage is a book that helps parents, teachers, and children to find ways to get outside and do some math at the same time. It is currently scheduled for release on April 1 2016. The book includes twenty-two outdoor activities, organized by season. With these activities, children will learn about numeracy and arithmetic, as well as math concepts such as shapes, time, greater/less than, even and odd numbers, patterns and grids. The activities have simple-to-follow instructions and are accompanied by adorable illustrations that provide clear visual demonstrations. The natural materials required (stones, pinecones, snowballs, worms) are easy to find in many environments. Supplementary spreads introduce the numbers 1 to 10 and further explore addition/subtraction and multiplication/division, with simplified explanations and illustrated examples. There are also science lessons here, regarding the properties of nature and how things change during the four seasons. Many of the activities can be done in pairs or groups, promoting teamwork and cooperation. A list of activities in the back matter indexes the activities and categorizes them by the math skills they develop.
Outdoor Math is full of pictures and detailed instructions and suggestions for engaging children in games that can help solidify math concepts. There are some very simple games and activities for the youngest learners such as working with shapes, there were more advanced activities that included multiplication and division. I think some of the games and pictures seemed a little dated to me, like the guides my teachers and parents had when I was a kid, the ideas are still sound and would be engaging for the right children. I did like that there was a good variety of games to chose from, and some for every season. It is a useful book, one that would be a good resource to have on hand or for checking out of the library and making copies of the activities you are most likely to implement with your own children or the group you work with or care for.
Outdoor Math is a great resource for parents and teachers to have at their disposal. Using these activities they can help teach or reinforce math lesson, all while having the children playing outside and active. A win-win as far as I am concerned.
Outdoor Math is full of pictures and detailed instructions and suggestions for engaging children in games that can help solidify math concepts. There are some very simple games and activities for the youngest learners such as working with shapes, there were more advanced activities that included multiplication and division. I think some of the games and pictures seemed a little dated to me, like the guides my teachers and parents had when I was a kid, the ideas are still sound and would be engaging for the right children. I did like that there was a good variety of games to chose from, and some for every season. It is a useful book, one that would be a good resource to have on hand or for checking out of the library and making copies of the activities you are most likely to implement with your own children or the group you work with or care for.
Outdoor Math is a great resource for parents and teachers to have at their disposal. Using these activities they can help teach or reinforce math lesson, all while having the children playing outside and active. A win-win as far as I am concerned.
March 27, 2016
Full review (including suggestions for teachers!) can be found online at: https://missmageesreads.wordpress.com...
During college, I spent four months in a first grade classroom in Copenhagen, Denmark. While I was abroad, I lived with a Danish host family and tutored at the Copenhagen International School. I absolutely loved my time in Denmark, and it was fascinating to get hands-on experience with Scandinavian education philosophies. One think we could absolutely learn from here in the U.S. is the Scandinavian emphasis on learning through play. That’s why I was so excited to review this new title, Outdoor Math, from Swedish author Emma Adbåge.
Outdoor Math gives a variety of strategies for incorporating math work into outdoor play. While I don’t think many students would pull this book off a shelf on their own (simply due to the word “math” in the title), I think this book could be a great resource for parents and teachers to use with children. Any opportunity to incorporate outdoor play into math lessons or math review helps children to lessen their math anxiety. I’m also a firm believer that movement can be an important part of learning, and kinesthetic lessons stick with children for a long time.
Outdoor Math incorporates strategies for reinforcing addition, time, multiplication, shapes, division, and more. For example, children may measure the length of worms using a ruler, create shapes using long rope, create patterns with acorns and leaves, and more. In addition to the different ideas suggested in the book, Adbåge has included resource pages that explain math operations using concrete examples.
Perhaps the most useful page in the book is the index, which sorts the different activities by math skill. This page will be a great resource for teachers and parents who would like to find activities that support certain teaching points. While some of the activities are unique to a certain season (like creating fractions using snow), many of the activities can be used year round, in a school yard or a backyard.
During college, I spent four months in a first grade classroom in Copenhagen, Denmark. While I was abroad, I lived with a Danish host family and tutored at the Copenhagen International School. I absolutely loved my time in Denmark, and it was fascinating to get hands-on experience with Scandinavian education philosophies. One think we could absolutely learn from here in the U.S. is the Scandinavian emphasis on learning through play. That’s why I was so excited to review this new title, Outdoor Math, from Swedish author Emma Adbåge.
Outdoor Math gives a variety of strategies for incorporating math work into outdoor play. While I don’t think many students would pull this book off a shelf on their own (simply due to the word “math” in the title), I think this book could be a great resource for parents and teachers to use with children. Any opportunity to incorporate outdoor play into math lessons or math review helps children to lessen their math anxiety. I’m also a firm believer that movement can be an important part of learning, and kinesthetic lessons stick with children for a long time.
Outdoor Math incorporates strategies for reinforcing addition, time, multiplication, shapes, division, and more. For example, children may measure the length of worms using a ruler, create shapes using long rope, create patterns with acorns and leaves, and more. In addition to the different ideas suggested in the book, Adbåge has included resource pages that explain math operations using concrete examples.
Perhaps the most useful page in the book is the index, which sorts the different activities by math skill. This page will be a great resource for teachers and parents who would like to find activities that support certain teaching points. While some of the activities are unique to a certain season (like creating fractions using snow), many of the activities can be used year round, in a school yard or a backyard.
April 7, 2016
Outdoor math it's a funny guide to "play math" outside taking advantage of what the different seasons offer us. The activities are diverse: worm measuring, cloud counting, tic tac toe, make shapes with a rope, estimate number of pine cones in a pile, place little "backyard treasures" in a grid with coordinates, bowling with bottles, one-minute challenges and more. What about making a snowman on a wagon, bring it inside the house, and see how long it takes for it to melt? That has to be a lot of fun! At least for kids. Not sure about their parents...
Most of the tasks call for counting, estimating, measuring, using a watch or stopwatch, and can be done without any special equipment or too much planning.
I'm a big fan of outdoor activities, screen-free entertainment, and science fun, and this book has all of it. I have a little issue with the writing since it is too simplistic to be a guide for grown ups (parents, teachers, etc.), but it's not easy enough for children in the age range it is addressed. It's not a big deal. In the overall it's a good book.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Find more children's book reviews in Reviews in Chalk
Most of the tasks call for counting, estimating, measuring, using a watch or stopwatch, and can be done without any special equipment or too much planning.
I'm a big fan of outdoor activities, screen-free entertainment, and science fun, and this book has all of it. I have a little issue with the writing since it is too simplistic to be a guide for grown ups (parents, teachers, etc.), but it's not easy enough for children in the age range it is addressed. It's not a big deal. In the overall it's a good book.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Find more children's book reviews in Reviews in Chalk
February 25, 2016
I love this book, especially as a grandmother and an ex-math teacher. Outdoor Math has adorable and simple ideas for young children to start viewing math not only as strictly counting numbers but classifying, measuring, recording and comparing objects around us. I have to admit, I love the "one- minute challenges"! The only thing I did not like were the last couple of pages that explained addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It did not seem to fit with the rest of the book and seemed to be a last minute addition. This book is great to bring along on a nature walk or for some outdoor time. I can see my grandson and I taking this to the park when we go for a walk, or at least using the ideas. I would recommend early elementary teachers to use this book for some interactive math ideas as well as parents of young children. This book should be in all school libraries, early grade classrooms and home libraries.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley & Kids Can Press in exchange for an honest review.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley & Kids Can Press in exchange for an honest review.
February 9, 2016
As a mom who intends to homeschool and who loves new ways of teaching her preschooler through play, this book was especially intriguing to me. I think that it would be great for anyone interested in fun, outdoor, educational activities, from parents to teachers.
My son (3) and I intend to hit up our local park later this afternoon to gather some rocks for the paint & numbers activity. I love that something so simple is a fun activity while we are out, will be an art activity, and then we will have a 'toy' at the end to play with numbers.
The biggest thing keeping this from 5 stars for me is that we live in Southern California, so basically all of the "Winter" activities are irrelevant unless we travel to the snow. I would also like some activities that were more water-play based.
Over all, though, a great book with some fun ideas!
* I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.com for an unbiased, honest review.
My son (3) and I intend to hit up our local park later this afternoon to gather some rocks for the paint & numbers activity. I love that something so simple is a fun activity while we are out, will be an art activity, and then we will have a 'toy' at the end to play with numbers.
The biggest thing keeping this from 5 stars for me is that we live in Southern California, so basically all of the "Winter" activities are irrelevant unless we travel to the snow. I would also like some activities that were more water-play based.
Over all, though, a great book with some fun ideas!
* I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.com for an unbiased, honest review.
June 21, 2016
In this Kids Can Press non-fiction text focusing on math outside, the reader learns all about the different ways to explore the outdoors using math. Through fun illustrations and informative how-to text readers can learn about different activities to learn about math and the outdoors, no matter the weather; activities go from complex, to as simple as shaking hands combination possibilities. Options include one-minute challenge where in the spring you can count how many times you can jump in a puddle, a secret number line via telephone style, number rocks, pattern play, one-minute challenge to make as many snowballs as possible, and many more. Additionally, readers will learn about numbers, plus and minus, multiply and divide, and a list of all the activities in the back.
September 14, 2016
I was so excited to return from vacation and have this book waiting for me! I won it through the Goodreads Giveaway program.
My only disappointment was that it wasn't longer!
The illustrations are charming, it crosses age and skill levels, and ties in so many different games.
This is a great book and I wish all parents and teachers had a copy to share with the children in their lives. As a former educator I saw the benefits immediately.
I'll be passing it on to my son's family. They have three children; ages 3, 7 and 9. Since my daughter-in-law teaches 4 year olds I'm sure she'll be able to use it in her classroom and bring it to the attention of other educators in her school.
Thanks so much!
My only disappointment was that it wasn't longer!
The illustrations are charming, it crosses age and skill levels, and ties in so many different games.
This is a great book and I wish all parents and teachers had a copy to share with the children in their lives. As a former educator I saw the benefits immediately.
I'll be passing it on to my son's family. They have three children; ages 3, 7 and 9. Since my daughter-in-law teaches 4 year olds I'm sure she'll be able to use it in her classroom and bring it to the attention of other educators in her school.
Thanks so much!
February 21, 2016
Outdoor Math has adorable and simple ideas for young children to start viewing math as not only as strictly counting numbers but classifying, measuring, recording and comparing objects around us. I have to admit, I love the "one- minute challenges"! This book is great to bring along on a nature walk or for some outdoor time. I would recommend early elementary teachers to use this book for some interactive math ideas!
*I received an ARC via NetGalley & Kids Can Press in exchange for an honest review.
*I received an ARC via NetGalley & Kids Can Press in exchange for an honest review.
June 1, 2016
This book is filled with seasonal outdoor activities for young learners. Equipment required comes directly from nature together with occasional common household items. The games cover a multitude of math activities such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, graphing, patterning, comparing, etc. Many of the activities can be slightly altered to better challenge a variety of groups or ages. Large inside spaces could also accommodate many of the activities. Learning would take place without young children even realizing it. What a cool way to play and have fun.
March 12, 2016
Felt like there need to be more... is this suppose to be meant for kids, parents of kids, or teachers. If it is meant for parents or teachers it needs to have some grown up pages. But if it is meant for kids, I feel like it needs to be more kid friendly.
There are some good activities, especially as a math instructor, but feel like it is not long enough or have enough activities for me to purchase.
There are some good activities, especially as a math instructor, but feel like it is not long enough or have enough activities for me to purchase.
December 30, 2016
Received through a GoodReads Giveaway.
Cute illustrations and activities!
Activities are using math concepts like counting, shapes, concepts of time and timing things, sorting objects.
Most activities would work best with a small group of children, although others can be done solo as they are written.
Some of the activities are things I remember doing within Guiding when I was younger and found fun.
Cute illustrations and activities!
Activities are using math concepts like counting, shapes, concepts of time and timing things, sorting objects.
Most activities would work best with a small group of children, although others can be done solo as they are written.
Some of the activities are things I remember doing within Guiding when I was younger and found fun.
April 14, 2016
Outdoor Math was a super cute, super cool math activity resource, with kids in mind. It was simple and fun. I loved how it taught math concepts in a non-threatening way, emphasizing play, exploration and environmental awareness.
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: All
Status: G
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: All
Status: G
Source: NetGalley
February 9, 2016
This is a really fun book for youngsters who are about to start learning about maths, it has a lot of fun activities to help them learn and get involved. I found it fun, informative and really easy to follow for little ones. Highly recommended.
March 9, 2016
FTC Disclosure: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My thoughts: This is an excellent book to help kids learn math in a fun and imaginative way throughout the year. This is certainly one that I'm ordering for the AEES collection.
My thoughts: This is an excellent book to help kids learn math in a fun and imaginative way throughout the year. This is certainly one that I'm ordering for the AEES collection.
July 27, 2016
I got this book as a promotional item. It is wonderful. The illustrations are adorable and the projects are fun and easily doable. My nephew is going to love this and I can't wait to do the worm measuring project with him.
February 16, 2016
Another cute early read from NetGalley.com. I can't wait to add this one to our collection.
February 23, 2016
Easy, fun year-round activities for kids of all ages. The hardest part of this book is waiting for the seasons to change!
March 8, 2016
This wonderful book makes learning math and appreciating nature fun. I love the illustrations of multicultural children.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
April 17, 2016
Take your math lessons outdoors with these easy lessons perfect for young mathematicians!
August 6, 2016
some good suggestions for incorporating math into outdoor activities.
September 1, 2016
Excellent book for showing kids a new way to love and learn about Math doing fun things outdoors.
July 23, 2016
Fun and practical. All the fun activities are grouped by season. The instructions are simple and clear.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews