Developed in partnership with Education Services Australia

Is your child more of a spectator than a sportsperson? Use these tips to get in some sports-inspired literacy and numeracy practice!

• watch matches together and talk about what's happening, how individual players are performing, and how the team is playing
• when a player does something fantastic (or terrible), talk about how they might be feeling. What might the player say if they were interviewed about the game?
• make a sports dictionary with specialist vocabulary and expressions, such as a dummy half (rugby), bowling a maiden over (cricket), or getting barrelled (surfing). Have fun making up new expressions
• talk about game statistics such as batting average, bowling average, strike rate, goals scored compared to attempts, or number and types of possessions
• encourage your child to record the statistics for a favourite team or player, and turn them into graphs, tables, or charts - it can be a great way to have fun while learning how to use a spreadsheet
• make estimates and predictions – eg the speed of the next serve, the distance to the finish line, or the final score. Whose prediction was closest?
• find out the cost of a piece of sports equipment. What brands and models are the cheapest / most expensive / best choice for a beginner? How much would you need to save per week to be able to buy one for Christmas?