Using a story to explore mathematics and technology is great way to develop children’s interests and imagination. This type of activity can be carried out over a few days, giving the children time to develop their ideas and further their understanding of new concepts which are being introduced.
Begin by reading a simple story to the children where the main characters go on a journey. A great book to do this activity with is Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins.
When reading the story, get the children to focus on the journey: Where is Rosie walking? What buildings and structures does she see along the way? You can also focus on prepositions used within the story such as under, over, next to, above, below and through.
Once children are familiar with the story you can start mapping out Rosie’s journey on a large piece of paper. Encourage children to think about the story and see if they can retell it in the right order.
When you have your map you can begin to add 3D structures to really bring this to life. Any construction toy would be appropriate - Lego, sickle bricks or wooden blocks. Encourage children to use their imagination and create their own versions of the buildings from the story.
With your building complete you can challenge the children to get the Bee Bot from one side of the farm to the other without knocking anything over. Through using the Bee Bot, children are developing basic programming and coding skills and problem-solving abilities.
