At Key Stage 1, develop their mathematical knowledge through practical activities and discussion. They learn to count, read and write numbers up to one hundred and above. Children develop mental calculation strategies and begin to grasp mathematical vocabulary. They use this to explain their methods and explain their reasoning when problem-solving. In Key Stage 1, children learn about shape, space and measures through practical activities.

By the end of Year 2, children should solve problems that involve all four number operations. They record calculations involved. Children derive an recall all pairs of numbers that total 20 and the multiples of 10 that total 100. They identify the multiples of 2, 5 and 10 and relate these to the multiplication tables. Children derive multiplication facts to derive the corresponding division fact. Children name 2D and 3D shapes, identifying some of their properties. Through Key Stage 1, they also learn about turns, telling the time and simple data handling.

The resources in this section can be used to support teaching and learning in Key Stage 1 to help move children towards the expectations for this phase of their education. Primary resources need to be fun and cool to really get young children engaged with the subject, with lots of real life scenarios and kinesthetic activities. Exciting maths lessons are made easier to plan with free materials from charities, commercial organisations and well known brands. Take the time to review the resources here to inspire you with great teaching ideas for primary. You can find activities to help with telling the time, counting money and more, all downloadable and printable or online interactive games.

The maths skills that very young children require at this stage include problem solving, counting and multiplication, and you can be sure that the resources that are included on this page are developed with national curriculum requirements in mind. Maths puzzles are a popular approach in year 1 and year 2, so try some of the puzzles in the resources above with your children. Improve their mental maths with worksheets and games designed to help them remember number bonds and their times tables. Whether it is tackling numbers or shapes, space and measure in your lessons or looking at number patterns and sequences, your teaching ideas will need to be simple and effective to get the children interested and engaged in the lesson. Try making a fun game out of memorising number bonds and times tables, or using objects to demonstrate the principles of multiplication and division. Cater for different learning styles in your classes, by getting children moving around or even out and about in the playground. Encourage problem solving skills by giving the children real life scenarios that they have to resolve using numeracy.

If you ever find yourself needing some good teaching ideas, take time out with a coffee to browse the free materials here, and try them out in your classroom, whether it is as just a standalone activity, or integrated into an existing lesson plan, you will find that new ideas can often enrich your teaching, take the pressure off you to constantly come up with new things, and really get the children thinking about the ways in which maths can impact on their every day lives.