Numberblocks collaborated with National Numeracy Day on 22 May 2024, a nationwide celebration aimed at promoting numeracy skills and fostering a love for maths among children and adults alike.
To commemorate National Numeracy Day this year, Numberblocks took its celebrations to the stars, sending a Numberblock Ten toy into space with Sent into Space, to symbolise the campaign’s dedication to reaching new heights in mathematical education.
The Numberblock Ten toy, customised for her space adventure with Ten’s rocket wings and helmet, was lifted by a huge bespoke stratospheric balloon filled with hydrogen gas. As the balloon rose, the pressure change caused it to expand until it was taller than Buckingham Palace. Eventually, the balloon was unable to expand any further and burst, causing the spacecraft to parachute back to Earth at a calculated landing position.
The launch vehicles travel to around 110,000 feet above the Earth, above 99.5% of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Sent into Space is a Sheffield-based agency that has conducted over 1000 flights to the upper stratosphere. Every item is sent into space with minimal environmental impact, using nontoxic and recycled materials.
The Numberblocks celebrated National Numeracy Day with help from some famous faces, including National Numeracy Ambassador and celebrity maths teacher celebrity maths teacher, Bobby Seagull, and National Numeracy Ambassador and Strictly Pro, Katya Jones Katya Jones from Strictly Come Dancing. The Numberblock One mascot was joined by these National Numeracy Ambassadors in a live stream of number fun activities from a London school to encourage young children to have fun with numbers.
This collaboration combined a nationwide campaign promoting numeracy confidence and skills with a beloved family brand known for making maths fun and engaging. By joining forces, Numberblocks and National Numeracy aimed to bring families together while fostering a love for mathematics.
We’ve always taken inspiration from the moon landings — very clever people working together to solve the biggest maths problem in history — and it’s a real thrill that our very own rocket Ten will be taking her own giant leap into space. Even better that it’s part of our important ongoing partnership with National Numeracy to make a real difference to the lives of young learners.
The whole team here at Numberblocks are great admirers of the charity’s work promoting numeracy across the UK and supporting families with maths education. The Numberblocks are all about having fun with numbers and building a life-long love of maths and we hope that our young fans will love tuning in to watch Ten’s space adventure and taking part in all the brilliant National Numeracy Day activities including the exclusive Numberblocks activity pack.
Joe Elliot, Creator of Numberblocks
We’re thrilled to partner with Numberblocks again this National Numeracy Day. Working together to help young learners feel confident with numbers is vital. A positive attitude to numbers will help them daily throughout their lives. Blasting Numberblock Ten into space is quite literally out of this world, and we hope children feel equally starstruck by maths.
Sam Sims, Chief Executive of National Numeracy
