It is important that children learn to apply the abstract knowledge they learn, and number stories offer a brilliant way of doing this. Make up a story! For example, ‘One day a magic bird flew through the forest. It flew over three hills.’ (All try to draw three simple hills.) ‘Then it saw the monster with four red eyes!’ (Draw the red eyes)

If you’re not sure about the types of resources you can use for this kind of activity, then take a look at my article about the 100 best materials for loose parts play. 1 To 1 Counting Books This lovely resource can help children learn and practise their number facts of 10. This worksheet includes fantastic number bonds stories, so that children can feel more confident with their number facts. The cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner states that ‘stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone.’ (Source)

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Number stories are sometimes called word problems. They’re descriptions of situations where the use of Maths can save the day. Instead of a question being written with +, -, ÷ or ×, it’s hidden within a story. Children have to work out which calculation they need to do before they can find the answer. We teach maths to children so they can apply it in their lives, and so learning through stories makes a whole lot of sense.

This resource provides your children with a lovely visual representation of number facts of 10, and asks them to write out the calculations. By representing the number facts of 10 in a story, children will be able to master this aspect of maths in no time! All of our resources are easy to use, just press the green button, print off your resource, and you are ready to go! The Enormous Turnip– In this, the man tries to pull the turnip out. Then the man and his wife (one more). Then the man and his wife and the dog. Each time there is one more.

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One day, two big boys were walking. Then came three big dinosaurs running around a house. Four hours later, seven little birds came flying in the sky. Then eight elephants came marching on the roof. An hour later the big dinosaurs fell asleep. Then ten boys went tiptoeing home. The first introduction to calculating often comes through finding one more and one less, and this is one of the best uses of number stories.