Author
Mhairi Sim
Published
August 2025
Key takeaways
Table of contents
Year 6 is a big year for our kiddos! Not only is it the final year of primary school and the Key Stage 2 curriculum, but students are also working towards the important KS2 SATs in May.
When it comes to Year 6 maths, there’s a lot to pack in preparation for Year 7, including new topics like algebra and ratio. The year can get busy, but there’s good news: maths doesn’t need to be overwhelming or a source of stress for kids!
In this article, we’ll share some of our favourite fun and engaging Year 6 maths activities that you can do with your learners either in school or at home. We’ll also take a look at how these activities align with the Year 6 maths curriculum and share some other great resources you can use this year.
Draft some maths problems (any topics you like) and link the answer of each problem to the start of another. As students solve the clues, they’ll get closer to their ‘escape’! Use an escape room tutorial to show you the ropes for how to set up this fun Year 6 maths activity for your kiddos.
Children will work in teams and race to receive and solve maths problems. One at a time, they’ll collect a problem, go back to their team and solve it together, and then send the next relay member back with their answer. If they are correct, they get the next problem; if they’re wrong, they need to check their work! The winning team are the team that solves all the problems first.
Let your learners create their own lesson, problem or activity to share with the class or family members. Being in the position of the “teacher” encourages learners to approach concepts from a different perspective, which deepens understanding, and they’ll get a confidence boost by being the one in charge of the lesson!
Explore the real-life applications of maths in the sporting world. Challenge your learners to use real sporting data (jump heights, running times, number of goals scored) to calculate averages, create graphs, and explore percentage increases or decreases. This is a fantastic way to demonstrate just one of the many real-world applications for these skills!
Each morning, as a starter activity, ask your children a maths ‘would you rather’ question like “Would you rather get £5 every day for 4 weeks, or start with £2 on day 1 but the amount doubles every day for 7 days, only then stays the same?”. Questions like these encourage problem-solving and the use of different mathematical operations.
Give your learners a map of the school grounds, a park, or your garden that is set on a coordinate grid. Hide maths problems around the area, and have the answers give kiddos coordinates to the next problem. They’ll then use their map-reading and coordinate-plotting skills to guide them to that problem.
Every class loves a game of maths countdown! Just like the TV game show, this activity challenges kiddos of any ability to use their knowledge of the four operations to the best of their ability, with an added problem-solving element. Start by giving players a target number, then six other numbers they’ll need to use to reach their target number.
Challenge kids to design their dream bedroom using their knowledge of measurement and area. Give them a measured bedroom floor plan (or for homework, have them measure and draw a floor plan of their bedroom). Next, let them pick pieces of furniture from catalogues, checking that they’ll fit in the room, and draw them onto their floorplans, to scale.
Set kids up in pairs with a maths problem and rotate the pairs every two minutes while they work to solve complex or multi-step maths problems. By changing problems and having to pick up where someone else left off, kids are working to boost their maths fluency and problem-solving agility!
By the time Year 6 rolls around, our learners should have strong foundations in core mathematical concepts covered in KS1 and KS2 maths. This year, they’ll continue to develop these skills in each area and will learn the basics in two new curricular areas in preparation for secondary school maths, including:
For a more in-depth look at what students will cover this year, take a look at our Year 6 maths curriculum guide.
In Year 6, maths fluency doesn’t just mean being fast – it also means being accurate, confident, and able to think on your feet. Activities like those listed above help your Year 6 learner to develop their maths fluency by:
Using a range of different Year 6 maths activities and games supports kiddos by breaking up teaching-heavy lessons with some fun opportunities to get hands-on. This approach is not only more engaging for your learners, but it also caters to different learning styles!
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Activities that blend curriculum content with creativity and real-world transferable skills are highly effective with Year 6 learners. The Year 6 maths activities we’ve shared above are perfect for this!
Allowing our kiddos to think independently and problem-solve on tasks while they are having some fun and reinforcing key maths concepts is where the best learning will happen.
Yes! Many parents, teachers, and students use and love the DoodleMaths app from DoodleLearn. Our award-winning app mixes interactive curriculum lessons with fun, skill-reinforcing games to engage kids and help their maths ability grow.
Our algorithm works by identifying users’ skills gaps and creating a personalised programme of Year 6 maths activities to address them, meaning that your child gets a tailored learning experience, just for them!
Parents, sign up for a DoodleMaths subscription and see your child become a maths wizard!
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