Number Day is on 6th February, and while dressing up as a number is always fun, why not try something a little different this year? Taking maths outdoors brings numbers to life through movement, exploration and real-world problem solving – and it’s accessible even if you only have a playground, yard or local green space.
This year, our Number Day ideas focus on the ‘number’ side of maths: counting, calculating, representing and making sense of numbers in meaningful ways. These activities are ideal for EYFS through KS2, and can easily be adapted for home education too.
All are low-cost, inclusive and easy to dip into for a whole day of outdoor maths… or just a session.
🛝 Playground Problem Questions
Turn your outdoor space into a living maths book by creating word problems that children can only solve by exploring and investigating what’s around them.
For example:
Find a leaf.
- How many veins does it have?
- How many veins would there be on 5 leaves?
- If there were 42 veins, how many leaves would there be?
Use the Children as the Activity
One of the best outdoor resources you have is… the children themselves!
Head to the playground and use bodies to explore number concepts:
- Make fractions (½ the group sitting, ¼ standing on one leg)
- Form the shapes of + , − , × , ÷ using arms and bodies
- Create human number lines and jump to solve sums
- Show odd and even by pairing up
Outdoor Pictorial Representations
Use natural and found objects to help children see numbers.
Ideas include:
- Making arrays with sticks, stones or cones to explore times tables
- Using pebbles (ones) and sticks (tens) to show partitioning (e.g. 23 as 20 – 2 sticks – and 3 – 3 pebbles)
- Building number bonds with leaves and shells
- Creating bar models or simple graphs on the ground
EYFS Focus: Write Numbers with Twigs
For younger children, keep it simple and sensory.
Invite them to:
- Collect sticks and twigs
- Use them to form numerals on the ground
- Say the number aloud and match it to quantities
Count, Tally and Explore
Turn Number Day into a mini outdoor data project by counting what you can find:
- Pebbles, leaves or sticks
- Birds spotted from a bench
- Insects under logs
- Steps between two points
Why Take Number Day Outside?
Outdoor maths:
- Makes learning active and meaningful
- Supports wellbeing and regulation
- Encourages collaboration and talk
- Helps children who find sitting still tricky
- Works brilliantly for SEND and trauma-aware approaches
You don’t need a forest – a playground, yard, path or small green space is more than enough.
🌿 Make It Your Own
You might choose:
- One activity for a short session
- A carousel of outdoor maths stations
- Or a whole day of learning through play outdoors
However you use these ideas, Number Day is a brilliant opportunity to show children that maths is everywhere – especially when we step outside.
If you try any of these, we’d love to hear how it goes!
