This is an example activity used in education projects.

Learning objectives: To count from 0 to 10; To be able to perform addition, subtraction, and multiplication

Related life skills: Leadership (for students who assist with checking less advanced students)

Duration: 20-25 minutes

Materials: Paper & markers; Rope (or chalk)

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Lay down a rope to mark a “river” (approx. one metre wide)
  2. According to the abilities of your students, choose one of the designs:
    • For beginner level students, it is still a challenge to identify the numbers correctly
    • Medium level students know the numbers well
    • Advanced level students are able to multiply
  3. If you’re teaching a multi-level class, divide the students into three groups according to the arrangement above
  4. Decide which numbers and multiples you want the students to practice and prepare cards accordingly.
    • For beginner students the number “5”: prepare three cards with “5” and five cards with random numbers, which are not multiples of five (for example “3” “7” “9”)
    • For medium level students multiples of “2”: prepare cards with “2” “4” “6” “8” and five cards with odd numbers (for example “3” “5” “9” “11”)
    • For advanced students multiples of “12”: prepare cards with “12” “24” “36” “48” and five cards with random numbers (for example “26” “38” “52”)
  5. Distribute the number cards in the “river”

Activity

  1. Ask the students to stand on one side of the “river”. According to their level, ask the students to cross the river in the following manner
    • Beginners: by only stepping on a certain number (for example “5”)
    • Medium level: by only stepping on multiples of lower numbers (for example multiples of “2”: “2” “4” “6” “8”)
    • Advanced: by only stepping on multiples of higher numbers (for example multipliers of “6”: “12” “18” “24” “30”)
  2. Once all students have crossed the river, indicate a new number

Tips

Raising the stakes: The students will enjoy the activity more, if you make it into a little story: explain how dangerous it is falling into the water because of huge, flesh-eating crocodiles!

Handing responsibilities: It could be very difficult for you to keep an eye on all the students to determine whether they have stepped on the correct numbers. You can therefore ask students from the advanced and medium levels to assist you with observation. By handing responsibility over to the students, you acknowledge the skills that they have already acquired. This will increase their self-confidence and be a further incentive to learn

Variation

Learning objective: Instead of numbers, write English letters on the cards and ask the students to step on the letters in the right order of the alphabet. Tip: For English, use either lower or capital letters, not both (to avoid students getting confused)