Experts say parents can keep maths on their children's minds during the holidays using sticks for a variety of games, challenges and brain teasers. From playing pick-up sticks to building 3D stick shapes, there’s no end to ways that sticks can help with maths without the children even realising it.

       Research shows that when students switch off over the summer, they tend to lose around two to three months’ worth of maths knowledge, known as summer learning loss.

       Whizz Education, a provider of the award-winning virtual tutor Maths-Whizz, has launched its Summer Learning Challenge to help.

       The challenge is aimed at all five to 13 year-olds with lots of suggestions about how sticks can be used to teach maths without being stuck in front of a computer.

       Open to all schools and parents it’s designed to encourage children to continue doing maths whilst having fun over the six-week summer holidays.

       The aim of the challenge is to help children be back on track by September as well as having fun outdoors. It's free, and you can download everything you need by registering here.

       Maths-Whizz Education consultant Fiona Goddard said: "The Summer Learning Challenge is being launched as a response to the extraordinarily difficult circumstances faced over the past 12 months and will support our schools, teachers, and parents keeping children’s maths learning simmering whilst away from the classroom.

       “Our research shows that when students switch off over the summer, they tend to lose around two-three months’ worth of maths knowledge, known as summer learning loss.

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       “Yet with just one hour per week of focussed individualised Maths-Whizz instruction, they can expect to move their learning forward by around eight-nine weeks over a six-week summer period. In all gaining a four-month advantage with just one hour a week; helping to turn learning loss into learning gains.”

       Here are just a few of the fun things you and your child can do with sticks to keep them keep learning.

       Outdoor maths to 'stick' at

       You've probably heard of this one and played it, but did you know it's great for spatial awareness, fine motor control and developing mathematical vocabulary?

       All you need is about 20 sticks or alternatives and at least two players.

       Method:

       Drop the sticks into a pile

       Take it in turns to remove a stick without moving any others

       You could ask what shapes you see when you look down at the pile

       Make a sun clock

       For this, you'll need

       ？ A 1m stick

       ？ Stones

       ？ A watch

       Next. Find an open area of ground that gets the sun all day. It needs to be somewhere where it won’t get disturbed

       As early as possible in the morning, push a 1m stick in the ground. Make sure the stick is vertical

       ？ Every hour on the dot mark the tip of the stick’s shadow with a short stick or pebble, writing the hour beside it

       ？ The following day you can tell the time by looking at your sundial

       ？ Work out the timings between the sticks. How accurate is your sundial?

       Follow a trail

       Lay a trail of sticks through woods, park, your garden or even in your home.

       ？ Agree on a trail code, for example, cross sticks mean dead-end, arrow turn left or right or straight ahead

       ？ Use positional language to describe how you get through your trail

       ？ Describe position, direction and movement

       Stick shapes

       The challenge is to make as many different shapes as possible using the sticks.

       ？ Talk about the properties of the shapes and see if your child can name some of the shapes. Triangles, square, rectangle, quadrilateral, polygon

       ？ Take a number of sticks, for example, 15 – how many rectangles can you make with 15 sticks?

       Make a counting stick

       The aim is to be able to count forwards and backwards from zero or any given number and to count in multiples.

       Have ready:

       ？ A stick, broom handle or pole at least a metre long, or chalk on paving slabs, or even use the edge of a table and tape.

       ？ Using the resources, make a counting stick (no longer than a metre) and with your child work out how to divide it into 10 equal parts

       ？ Mark each division with a pen, tape or tie string. This is now ready for all sorts of counting

       ？ Each mark/division can represent whatever you want it to. Point to the division as you count