Sharing Fairly

Overview

This 20-minute mixed-age maths session for Reception (age 4-5) and Nursery (age 3-4) children will deepen understanding of sharing, building on shape recognition from last week. The focus is on introducing sharing as an equal distribution of objects between groups, recognising fairness, and noticing leftover objects when sharing isn’t equal.

The lesson closely follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework and the National Curriculum for England Reception requirements for Mathematics, with reference to Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters non-statutory guidance. Activities are fully differentiated to support mixed ages and SEN needs in a small class of 5 Reception and 6 Nursery children.

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National Curriculum Links and Learning Objectives

EYFS Statutory Framework Mathematics

• Understanding the World – Mathematics:
• Compare quantities, recognising when amounts are the same or different
• Explore the composition of numbers to 10
• Count objects, actions and sounds
• Use language such as 'equal', 'more', 'less', 'fair', and 'leftover' in practical contexts

Development Matters (Reception)

• Compare numbers and quantities in familiar contexts
• Explore sharing in practical situations with real objects

Birth to 5 Matters (Range 6)

• Show understanding of relative size
• Estimate and count objects up to 10

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Learning Intentions ("I can" statements)

• I can make the same shapes as my teacher (recap from last week).
• I can share objects fairly between two or more groups.
• I know sharing means giving one object at a time to each group until everyone has the same amount.
• I can recognise if something has been shared fairly or unfairly.
• I understand what happens when some objects are left over after sharing.

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Success Criteria

• Children replicate the shapes demonstrated by the teacher during the starter activity.
• Children use language such as "fair," "equal," "the same," and "leftover" during discussions and activities.
• Children successfully share loose parts or teddy bear food items equally between groups.
• Children can explain why a sharing is fair or unfair.
• Children notice and respond to leftover items by suggesting what might happen next.

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Resources Needed

• Shape manipulatives from last week (e.g., foam or plastic shapes) for recap starter
• Teddy bear toys or similar character figures (2-4 per group)
• Small loose parts or pretend food items (e.g., plastic fruits, pebbles, shells) for sharing activities
• Plates or small containers for each “group”
• Visual prompts (prepared on whiteboard or printed out) with images of shared items and fair/unfair examples
• Real fruit or snacks (optional, for practical engagement)
• Number labels/cards (optional, for extension activity)

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Lesson Breakdown

1. Starter: Shape Recap (4 minutes)

• Gather children in a circle. Show a shape from last week and ask children to find the same shape from their own set and hold it up.
• Repeat for 3-4 different shapes, encouraging careful observation and accurate matching.
• Questions/prompting:
• "Can you find the same shape as me?"
• "What is the name of this shape?"
• "Does your shape look the same size? Is it bigger or smaller?" (to stretch Reception)
• Praise all attempts and link the idea of ‘sameness’ to equal sharing coming up.

2. Introduction to Sharing (5 minutes)

• Use a bowl of 6-8 real or pretend strawberries and two plates. Place an unequal number on the plates (e.g., 5 on one plate and 3 on another).
• Ask children: “Is this fair? How do you know?”
• Model sharing strawberries one at a time between the two plates. Count aloud each piece as it is given to each plate.
• Questions/prompts:
• “Who has more?”
• “How can we make it fair?”
• “What does ‘fair’ mean?”
• Emphasise taking turns and distributing objects slowly, demonstrating the idea of sharing equally (“one for you, one for me”).

3. Main Activity: Teddy Bear Picnic Sharing (8 minutes)

• Set children into small groups mixing nursery and reception pupils. Provide teddy bears, plates, and a quantity of loose parts (e.g., 6 pebbles or 10 plastic fruits).
• Ask children to share the items equally between the teddy bears, giving one item at a time to each teddy.
• Support children verbally:
• “Who gets the next item?”
• “Have all the teddies got the same number?”
• “Is it fair?”
• Challenge for mixed ability:
• Nursery children focus on sharing between 2 teddy bears.
• Reception children try sharing between 2 or 3 groups.
• Introduce leftover objects: If some items cannot be shared equally (e.g., 7 items shared between 3 teddies), ask:
• “What happens to the leftover? What could we do with it?”
• Circulate among groups to question children’s reasoning and support SEN pupils with scaffolds such as counting guidance and sentence starters (“It is fair because...”).

4. Reflection and Q&A (3 minutes)

• Whole class gather back together. Use key questions to prompt discussion:
• “Who can show me how you shared?”
• “What does it mean to share fairly?”
• “What did you do if there was a leftover?”
• Use sentence stems:
• “It is fair because…”
• “There is a leftover because...”
• Celebrate successes with positive reinforcement and highlight different approaches children took.

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Differentiation

Learner Type	Adaptation
Nursery (age 3-4)	Focus on sharing between 2 groups, supported adult guidance, and physical demonstration. Use fewer objects. Visual aids and sentence stems provided.
Reception SEN learners	Use tactile objects, provide step-by-step guidance, repeat questions slowly. Use peer modelling and one-to-one support where possible.
Reception mixed ability	Encourage explaining reasoning aloud, sharing between 3 groups, use number cards for counting and matching.

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Extension Activities (for advanced learners)

• Encourage advanced learners to share equally between 3 or 4 groups and explain their method.
• Challenge children to write or draw what happens when sharing is not fair (e.g., leftover objects) and suggest ways to resolve.
• Explore alternate grouping (grouping concept): “If each teddy should have 2 fruits, how many teddies can we have?”

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Assessment Opportunities

• Observational notes during sharing activity on children’s ability to distribute objects equally.
• Assess children’s ability to use vocabulary related to sharing: “fair,” “equal,” “leftover.”
• Ask children questions during the reflection to check conceptual understanding.
• Identify any misconceptions about fairness or leftover handling to inform next steps.

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Links to Rosenshine’s Principles

• Daily review: recap from last week’s shape lesson to reinforce prior learning.
• Present new material in small steps: clear, manageable introduction to sharing concepts.
• Ask questions: strong questioning embedded throughout to probe and reinforce comprehension.
• Provide models: teacher demonstration plus modelling sharing process.
• Guide student practice: small group work with hands-on materials.
• Provide scaffolds: sentence stems and adult support for SEN and nursery children.
• Check for understanding: reflection session with targeted questioning.

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This lesson leverages practical, hands-on sharing experiences using meaningful and relatable resources, aligned with EYFS frameworks and WhiteRose small steps guidance, to nurture early maths understanding in a supportive rural school setting.