Is your school participating in Maths Week?
Have a look on the website: http://www.mathsweek.ie/2015 for more information and some suggested activities.
Here's some of the things I'll be using with my current class, some I've used previously, and other ideas I've found along the way :)
I like the idea of having clocks and times shown around the classroom in different ways. I have a visual timetable which has clocks for break times. My one is shown below left, and the other is one I found online that looks quite nice :)
Since moving to the Junior end of school, I find I'm loving Maths again. I found it very hard teaching Senior end Maths - I didn't think there were many ways to make it fun and interesting. But having researched recently, I've found some nice ideas, which I can share with you. These activities are more suited to older classes, but obviously, could be adapted for younger classes too, and vice versa with the younger activities to be adapted for older classes.
Maths Quiz
Table quiz style with each group working together. There would be a whiteboard, marker and calculator available to each group to assist them and the team with the most points at the end gets a prize. The questions could be really varied here, and could include some really practical ones (link to measures, money, etc) or more to do with calculation.
I found this example on TES but it would have to be adapted and changed to suit an Irish curriculum
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/large-end-of-term-fun-maths-ks3-pub-quiz-6340257
Puzzles, Riddles and Dingbats
If it's one thing a Senior class love, it's puzzles!!! I remember being in 4th class and our teacher used to give us a daily puzzle and the person with the answer fastest used to get a prize. I think she used to give us bon-bon sweets as a prize (No wonder I needed to get some fillings done!)
Again, TES have some fabulous ones that you could use in the Senior classroom.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/dingbat-puzzles-6015473
This website is also quite cool. I've just spent the past twenty minutes on it! Can you tell I'm a nerd?! http://www.quizmasters.biz/DB/Pic/Dingbats/Dingbats.html
There are also some lovely interactive games you could play here: http://zenomath.org/toolbox/
Shopping List
I've seen Múinteoir Valerie post about this type of activity and I'm sure the children in any Senior class would love it. You could send the children on a shopping trip with a budget and see what they come up with. You could pose problems and see if they can find a solution to the problem. There are endless possibilities. Start stocking up in Aldi brochures, Smyths toy catalogues and I'm sure the Argos book will be out soon!!!
Maths Art
The ideas for Maths Art are infinite. You can link Art to any strand in the Maths curriculum - shape, money, lines and angles, number, etc. Here's some suggestions:
After rooting out all these ideas, I'm really looking forward to implementing some in my class for Maths Week. I have some more ideas and inspiration over on my Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/lorraineTHHT/numeracy/ And I'll be updating my PinBoards more regularly now too :)
Old School Maths Games
After spotting Mentoring Múinteoir posting the Number Rumba game, it got me thinking of other old school games that involve Maths. Some of the obvious ones too - Bingo, Snakes and Ladders, etc.