Year 1 Fractions Activities

Introduce Fractions with Four Hands-On Year 1 Maths Activities

Transform your Year 1 Maths lessons with this engaging resource featuring four practical activities that introduce the concept of fractions through hands-on exploration, making halves and quarters accessible and understandable for young learners.

Four Complete Activities Included:

1. Finding Halves And Quarters Of Shapes: Discover fractions by folding and dividing shapes! Use paper circles, squares, and rectangles to create halves and quarters, developing visual understanding of equal parts through hands-on manipulation
2. Play Dough Fractions: Make fractions you can touch! Use play dough to create shapes and divide them into halves and quarters, building tactile understanding of fractions as equal parts of a whole through creative, sensory exploration
3. Grouping Objects: Find halves and quarters of quantities! Use counters, cubes, or other objects to find half or quarter of a group, understanding that fractions apply to collections of things as well as individual shapes
4. Half And Quarter Challenge: Apply fraction knowledge through fun challenges! Complete tasks like finding half of different numbers, dividing shapes into quarters, and solving fraction problems—building confidence and fluency with halves and quarters

Why Teachers Choose This Resource:

• Curriculum-Aligned: Fully supports Year 1 Maths objectives for fractions in the National Curriculum of England
• Hands-On Learning: Practical activities that make abstract fraction concepts concrete and accessible
• Multi-Sensory Approach: Uses visual, tactile, and manipulative activities to suit different learning styles
• Ready to Use: Complete lesson plans with learning objectives, resources, and step-by-step instructions
• Age-Appropriate: Focuses on halves and quarters—the perfect starting point for Year 1 fraction learning
• Builds Confidence: Progressive activities that develop understanding from concrete to more abstract
• Engaging Activities: Uses play dough and challenges to make fraction learning fun and memorable

Perfect For:

• Year 1 Maths fractions lessons
• Key Stage 1 introduction to fractions
• Homeschool maths curriculum
• Building foundational fraction understanding
• Making fractions concrete and visual
• Developing fraction vocabulary (half, quarter, equal parts)

Learning Outcomes:

Through these activities, children will recognize, find and name a half as one of two equal parts of an object, shape or quantity, recognize, find and name a quarter as one of four equal parts of an object, shape or quantity, understand that fractions are equal parts of a whole, and develop fraction vocabulary and conceptual understanding through practical exploration.

What Makes This Resource Special:

Fractions are a completely new concept for Year 1 children—the idea that numbers can represent parts of things is abstract and challenging. These activities make fractions concrete by using shapes you can fold, play dough you can mold, and objects you can count. By experiencing fractions through multiple senses and representations, children build genuine understanding rather than just memorizing definitions.

Building Fraction Foundations:

Year 1 is where fraction learning begins, and getting it right matters. These activities ensure children understand that fractions represent equal parts—not just any parts—and that the same fraction can look different in different contexts. This foundational understanding supports all future fraction work throughout primary school and beyond.

From Concrete to Confident:

The activities progress from very concrete (folding paper, molding play dough) to more abstract (finding fractions of quantities, solving challenges), following best practice in early maths teaching. This progression ensures children develop deep conceptual understanding before moving to more abstract work, building confidence at each stage.

Make fractions make sense from the start! These engaging activities help Year 1 students discover halves and quarters through hands-on exploration that makes fractions visual, tactile, and understandable—building the strong foundation needed for all future fraction learning and mathematical success.