This planning is a series of 6 outdoor lesson ideas with a focus on using natural materials and resources to teach and consolidate phonics learning, taking early spelling outdoors. Each activity includes, an objective, resources list, preparation list, adult role, warm up activity, main activity, plenary and evaluation. The ideas in this hand out have been tried and tested over numerous sessions, tailored to the individual needs of the children and specific objective. Many more ideas are now readily found online, but this short compilation provides a small selection to get you started. One of a collection of resources provided by Deborah Lambert, co author of Bloomsbury’s National Curriculum Outdoors series of books.

This planning is for an EYFS / Y1 Gruffalo Day (a vocabulary development case study day). The day was divided into 3 sessions allowing time for breaks and lunch, but you may like to use or develop some or all of the ideas over the course of a few days as part of a themed week. The resources in this vocabulary development case study day were set up as a ‘roundabout’ of activities with a mixture of child initiated and adult-led learning. The planning includes, objectives, curriculum links, resources list, preparation list, prior learning, adult role, warm up activity, main activity, a selection of independent challenges, adult supported activities, plenary and evaluation prompts. This resource is one of a series produced by Deborah Lambert , who is co-author of Bloomsbury’s National Curriculum Outdoors series.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards supplement the set of 11 sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. This card shows how to tie a Tape Knot. A water or tape knot enables tubular webbing ends to be joined to make a circle, or to combine multiple webbing to increase the size of a circle. It is a strong join, yet easily undone, even if wet. Tubular webbing is used as it is soft, strong and can be washed. Now that you have turned the Raccoon Circle into a complete circle or loop using a water knot, you are ready to start exploring this amazing resource! Look for the Taking Maths Outdoors sets of cards. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of activities make use of tubular webbing tape as a sorting circle or series of circles for categorisation (Venn), to indicate a line or level (as in line or bar chart) and to make a circle forming a pie chart to represent data. This is set 11 of 11 (11/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of tubular webbing tape to define the working area and as a circle of commitment. It is also an ideal opportunity to assess for learning and understanding! This is card 9 of 11 (9/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at teamwork and team play website

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that use a length of tubular webbing tape as a base line, to estimate a height or length and also as a non-standard measure! This is card for 8 of 11 (8/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards make use of tubular webbing tape as a circle of commitment to show they know answers to questions, as a line on which to order the days of the week/months of the year or (with the addition of two sticks) models a clock-face. This is card 7 of 11 (7/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of tubular webbing tape as a physical representation of a vertical number line (or scale) . Whiteboards are also required. Please note that the photo shows the complete set of cards which are available to purchase directly from the Taking Maths Outdoors website. This post is to purchase a partial set of the cards; set 6 of 11 (6/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards make use of tubular webbing tape as a line and to demarcate the working area. Using their speaking and listening skills, partner-shared talk, discussion and teamwork, the children make and talk about calculating perimeter and area. This is set 5 of 11 (5/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of a length of tape and chalk, to create shapes and to demarcate the working area. Using their speaking and listening skills, partner-shared talk, discussion and teamwork, the children make shapes and talk about symmetry. This is set 4 of 11 (4/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activities can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of playground markings as a protractor or by using tubular webbing / raccoon tape, to approximate measures of degrees. This is set 3 of 11 (3/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great team building activities can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards make use of tubular webbing tape both as a line and to demarcate the working area. Using their speaking and listening skills, partner-shared talk, discussion and teamwork, the children make and talk about 2D and 3D shapes using mathematical vocabulary. Techniques such as ‘walking the line’ empower the participants and demonstrate their understanding. This is set 2 of 11 (2/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.