Action Rhyme : One, two, What shall I do, three, four, knock on the door; five, six, pick up six sticks, (collect six sticks. ) or five, six pick and mix (as above).

Number Story Rhymes

• Six pigs were in a fix, stuck inside a muddy ditch.

Five pigs grunted with glee
Four pigs splashed around as they scampered up and down
Three pigs rolled about, muddy they were without a doubt.
Two pigs squealed with delight
As one pig ducked right out of sight.
Then the farmer came with some food…..
All the pigs jumped and scrambled right out of that muddy place,
And ate their dinner with dirt all over their face!

• Six smooth eggs sitting in a box

Five were brown and one was white.
Four were big and two were small,
Three were short and three were tall.
One fell and cracked upon the floor,
So ask the chickens to lay one more.
Two were boiled for our tea
One for you and one for me.
So now how many can you see.

• A skipping rhyme:-

Kittens in the kitchen1 2 3 4 5 6 Watch them play their funny tricks Kittens in the kitchen1 2 3 4 5 What a the picture, what a surprise Kittens in the kitchen1 2 3 4 One has fallen on the floor

Kittens in the kitchen1 2 3 You can see them just like me. Kittens in the kitchen1 and 2 Yes, but is it really true Kittens in the kitchen only 1 When he’s gone our song is done (Helena)

Six to pick and mix Egg boxes can be used to collect six different treats from a pick and mix snack bar.
Nursery Rhyme  
Illustrate the following nursery rhyme:-
There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence
Against a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat,
Who caught a crooked mouse
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

A six sided house is difficult to draw and certain to be
very crooked.

More Creative Activities
• Have a few baskets of different small edible snacks form which the participants collect six items of their choice and place them one in each section of an empty egg box.
• Make patterns and pictures with lots of different coloured hexagon shapes. 
• Play board games using a six sided dice e.g. Make a giant snakes and ladders..
Game board.
• Play the game of ‘Boxes’ described previously using a grid of dots that supports the players making six sided honey comb shaped ‘boxes ’each will have a dot at its centre and possibly an extra line or two within its shape. The players could agree that there is a score of two for each hexagon that is built without any lines within and a score of one for hexagons with extra lines inside them. The combination of luck and skill in this game makes it suitable for a wide range of ages and ability.

• Put six lengths of coloured twine together into pairs and make a plaited six colour bracelet with three beads at the beginning and three at the end.
• Explore how Two Triangles can make a six pointed star  
•   The cube has six sides. This also has six sides  

The radius of a circle can be used to establish the six points marked A on the circumference of the circle. When these points are joined with straight lines a hexagon shape is formed. If every other point is joined with a straight line to the centre the circle will be split into thirds. Pre cut large circles of paper make these explorations much easier to explore. Otherwise for more able learners the same work can be done with a compass set at the radius width of the circle.

Outdoor activities

• Visit a farm that produces free range eggs and help collect the eggs placing them in empty egg boxes.
• Hard boiled eggs spin well on a smooth surface – see who can make their egg spin the fastest and longest.
• Visit a pebble beach and collect ten full egg boxes of smooth egg shaped stones. [These stones and egg boxes can later be used to illustrate the six times table.]
• Find six legged insects and observe them under a magnifying glass.
• Visit a place where they have bee hives and can help us learn about bees and how they live and make honey in their hives.
• Junior Sudoku games can be made up of a six squares in each box provides an easy beginners game. One can make up games by completing a chart with random numbers 1to 6 in each block of six squares and then copying the chart with missing numbers. Sometimes the homemade puzzles do not work out; this adds a further level of challenge, if an adult has not previously checked that the puzzle can be solved.