How to plan your Big Maths Party
The Big Maths Party is an exciting new event to bring together students of all ages in first and primary schools and celebrate the vital role of mathematics in our everyday lives. Your Big Maths Party day will promote positive messages around maths in your school and celebrate the diversity and wonder of the subject.
We are delighted that you are thinking of hosting your own Big Maths Party. Lots of schools from all around the North East will be taking part on 21st March 2025, but if that date doesn't work for your school, feel free to do it on another day.
We've provided you with lots of free materials to help you plan and run your Big Maths Party, but the whole day is flexible. We want you to be creative, use the resources however you like and make your party perfect for your school. No two parties will be exactly the same, but here's a guide for a general structure to planning and running your party.
Have fun!
Before the party
Step 1 - Sign up!
We want to know who is taking part in the Big Maths Party, so please make sure you sign up your school before you get started.
Step 2 - Promote your involvement.
We've prepared a range of posters, banners and media you can use on your website and social media channels. Let everyone know that you are hosting a Big Maths Party. Find all the resources HERE.
Please feel free to include us in your social posts by using the following:
- Twitter / X - @educationnortht
- Facebook - @Education North Tyneside
- LinkedIn - @Education North Tyneside
Use the hashtag #BigMathsParty across all channels.
Step 3 - Get your families involved.
We want your whole school community to get involved with your Big Maths Party. You could invite parents to participate in some activities or talk about how they use maths in their lives and jobs. We've prepared a draft invitation letter to send to parents, a pre-task for children, and another for their grown-ups to complete.
Step 4 - Pick your activities.
We've created around 80 activity cards for you to choose from. They cover all age groups from Early Years to Year 6.
To help you add variety to your day and demonstrate the many ways we use maths, we've divided them into five categories:
- Talk and Play
- Sing and Dance
- Make and Create
- Look and Solve
- Friends and Family
Try to make sure each class covers a variety of the categories through their day as you create your timetables.
Early Years activity cards
Year 1 & 2 activity cards
Year 3 & 4 activity cards
Year 5 & 6 activity cards
Step 5 - Explore our multimedia resources
As well as the activity cards, we have gathered a wealth of multimedia resources for you to use. These include videos from kind friends of Education North Tyneside explaining how they use maths in their varied jobs.
There is also a huge bank of interesting images for your classes to examine and find the maths in each one.
Finally, we have a great range of recommended books to use. You may already have some in school, but we've included buying links if not.
Be sure to have a look through everything before the day and decide which parts you'd like to use. You can find it all on our Extra Resources page.
Your Big Maths Party day
Step 1 - Get the party started with an assembly
Start your day by gathering the troops and introducing what the Big Maths Party is all about. We've prepared assembly slides for you to use which can be downloaded and edited if needed. You can find them on our Media and Resources page.
Step 2 - Run the activities
Each class will use the activity cards you've selected to make, create, solve, discuss, play, share, sing and dance their way through their party day.
Step 3 - Capture your day
Don't forget to capture the fun of the day with lots of photos and videos.
Step 4 - Share your party pics
Please share your wonderful party pics across your social channels, and be sure to tag us in your posts so we can see what you've been doing. We'll be trying to gather some of the best bits across the day and after the event.
- Twitter / X - @educationnortht
- Facebook - @Education North Tyneside
- LinkedIn - @Education North Tyneside
Use the hashtag #BigMathsParty across all channels.
Please make sure you follow your school social media policies at all times and ensure that all students have parental permissions to appear in images that are shared online.
Step 5 - The closing assembly
To finish of the day you can get your classes together once more for a closing assembly. This will be a chance to share and celebrate the fun and learning that has taken place through the day. We've prepared assembly slides for you to use which can be downloaded and edited if needed, as well as participation certificates for you to give out to children if wanted. You can find both on our Media and Resources page.
After the party
Step 1 - Where's the maths in your life?
When the bunting has come down and the dice and counters have been put away, there's one last task you can send your children home with. With all that maths fresh in their minds, we'd like them to pick a day over their weekend and try and track all the maths they can see in their lives.
We've prepared a task sheet for them to give some prompts and ideas, but it's up to them how they complete it, which should make it accessible for all ages. They can make lists, draw pictures, create a timeline or any other way they can think of. The activity sheet is included at the end of all activity card packs for all age groups.
Step 2 - Tell us what you think
We would love to know how your Big Maths Party went and what you thought of the resources we provided, so we can learn from your feedback and continue to improve what we can offer for future events. We plan to run another Big Maths Party in 2026, so your feedback will be invaluable.
