Learn with Play-Doh | Math Games for Kids | How to Add | Counting on Fingers | Writing on Paper

In this video, we want to take the idea of addition that little step further and we want to explore the idea of a missing number in an addition calculation. So, it's moving forward in terms of progression in that we want to move away from the what is 2 plus 2 equals, we want to move that missing number actually into the number sentence. So, there's a little bit more challenge there and it really gets your child thinking about numbers, thinking about addition and thinking about how the order of those numbers affects the calculation and affects the answer. So, what I have prepared is just some really practical little activities that will actually help your child explore the idea of that missing number. So, what I have drawn is just some simple little snakes. As you can see, I've given the beginning number in the spots and then we've got the missing number and we have got our answer. So, I'm going to talk about this with James first. He hasn't explored missing numbers at all. He's still very much on the idea of very basic addition. He's still using a lot of concrete materials for counting. He's using counters and cubes and objects and he's still exploring the idea of number lines. So, he is in the very early stages of his addition journey. So, this is a nice little activity just to push him that little bit further and challenge him a little bit. So, basically that's all I've done is I've drawn two snakes. I've drawn my beginning number on there and then my missing number and what answer I want to get to and James is going to use play-doh, little balls of play-doh to put some extra spots on the snake to get to his target number. Okay, so James, what you've got is a little snakey here, okay? And do you see on the snake how many spots has he got on the first snake? Two. Okay, and do you see you've got two here? Yeah. So, you've got two plus and we've got a missing number, we don't know what the number is, equals five. So, we want to find two plus what makes five, okay? So, you've got two spots and you're going to put some more spots on to make five, okay? So, do you think you can add some spots on our snake with your play-doh to make five spots? So, how many have you got? Two. Okay. Three, four. Now, this will be the first natural mistake that your child will make is they want to put the whole five on and this is a really good teaching moment so you can actually explain that. So, now tell me how many spots do you have all together now? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And how many should you have? No, no, no. How many should you have? Five. So, what does that mean? Two plus seven equals five. Does it? There's something wrong, isn't there? So, really this is a really good way to challenge your child and really get them thinking. Okay, so James, what we want to try and start again is I'm going to take those ones off, okay? We'll just pop those off and I want you to think about your missing number, okay? The number that you have spots your snake needs to have is what? How many all together? How many number spots does the snake need to have all together? Five. So, I'm going to put a circle around this because this is the answer, okay? So, this is again another really good opportunity to explore how calculations are set out. Okay, so this is always going to be your answer after the equal sign so the snake needs to have five spots all together, okay? How many has he got? Two. So, can you make him have five? Yeah. One, two, three. Good boy. Four. Right, tell me, check again he's got five. One, two, three, four, five. So, now he's actually got the idea of I've got two and I need to count on from two to get to five and that's where you want your child to go So, you had two, yes? Yes. How many did you add on? Three. So, what goes in this missing box? Good boy. So, two plus three equals five. Okay, good job. Right, now this time how do we look at One, two, three. And what does our calculation say this time? Three plus what? Seven. Equals seven. So, what number of spots does your snake need to have all together and it's really enforcing that idea of all together and that's mathematical language. Now, be careful, stop a wee minute. Think about what you did the last time. Remember you did one, two, three, four, five and was that right? Was it? Because remember we had loads of spots and we had to take some off. So, let's have a wee think about this before we put them on. You've got one, two, three. You need to get to how many? Seven. Okay, so do you think if we start counting one, two, three that's going to be a good idea? Yeah. Do you? No. So, we've got one, two, three. No. Now, what do you think we should do? What? What comes next? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Okay, but do we need to get to ten? No. What do we need to get to? Seven. Seven. So, we need to get to seven. So, you need to think about how you're going to get to seven, okay? So, you've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Okay, so really do lead and guide your child in this because they will need that wee bit of guidance. Okay, so have you got seven? Yeah. Three plus seven equals seven. Now, that's interesting. Did you add on seven? Yeah. Look how many you added on. One, two, three, four. No. Did you add these? Which ones did you add? These. One, two, three, four. Three plus four equals seven. That's it. Good boy. So, really this is a lovely opportunity to just have all that mathematical chat with your child and really just see how their little brains are thinking. Very good, James. So, three plus four equals seven. Two plus three equals five. Right, so we've got some more snakes now and these numbers are a bit bigger. Okay, so this time how many spots does the snake need to have all together? Eight. Good, so can we do a circle around this so we know? Okay, so we need eight all together. Okay, how many does he have? One, two, three, four. Okay, so you need to put some more on. Okay, so how many have you got? Four. Right. One. Now, careful. One, two, three, four, five. Good boy, much better. Six. We encourage that idea of counting on as well. Seven. Eight. Right, check. One, two, three, four. Four plus four equals eight. Good job, well done. So, as you can see, now he's starting to get the idea of it, the hang of it and it really will take a lot of practical activities of this sort to get that idea of a missing number into your child's understanding and to really let them grasp that concept in a nice concrete way. Okay, this one, James, I'm not going to do any talking this time. I'm going to see if you can do this one all by yourself. Do you think you can? Yes. Okay, you tell me what you're going to do first of all. No, tell me what you're going to do first of all. Are you going to add on five? How many do you need altogether? Five. Okay. Two, three, four, five. One plus one plus four equals five. That is absolutely fabulous. So, as you can see, that independence is starting to come, that confidence with the method is starting to come and just allowing them to do that practical and then transferring it into that written really gives that lovely basic understanding of the idea of a missing number and James is starting to grasp that although a lot more practice will need to take place before I know that he's 100% sure.