Understanding Fractions:
Years 1 and 2
Fractions don’t need to be complicated.
In Years 1 and 2, children build on their early work with halves, and begin exploring quarters and eighths.
This Quick Win gives parents a clear, confidence‑building ways to support those ideas at home
- without worksheets or extra prep.
In this short video, you'll see how easy it is to use everyday objects
to help your child notice that things can be split into 2, 4 and 8 equal parts.
Fruit, paper, toys, snacks - they all become simple tools for powerful learning.
Perfect for busy parents who want to support maths in a way that feels
natural, playful and aligned with what teachers are building in class.
Why this Quick Win matters
Fractions are one of the biggest building blocks for later maths success.
When children learn to recognise equal parts now, they’re better prepared for more formal fraction work in Years 3–6, and for proportional reasoning across the curriculum.
This Quick Win helps parents reinforce those foundations in a way that supports teachers and boosts confidence.
What's Included:
Parent video: a short, friendly walkthrough showing exactly how to explore halves, quarters and eighths at home, using everyday objects.
PDF summary: key ideas, language prompts, and simple activities.
It’s designed to give you clarity, confidence, and a practical way to support your child’s learning at home.
A small step that makes a big difference
When parents feel confident supporting fractions, children feel confident learning them.
This Quick Win makes that support simple, achieveable, and genuinely helpful.
Get this Quick Win
See the full fraction journey
This is the beginning of building fraction sense - through noticing, exploring and manipulating everyday objects.
If you’d like to see how this early idea grows through Stage 2 and Stage 3,
you can explore the full Fractions progression here.
It shows every building block your child will meet across primary school, in one simple place.
Keep Building Your Child’s Confidence
You can keep strengthening their number sense with other powerful ideas.
Browse the full collection of Quick Wins: Quick Wins Hub
Or if you prefer to see everything in one place: All Downloads
