Halves and Quarters
Splitting a whole into 2 or 4 equal parts.
A half is not "two pieces" — it is two equal pieces of one whole. Getting equality into the definition early, around ages five to seven, prevents most later fraction confusion.
Play this lesson with narration →One pizza, two friends
Cut fairly.
One pizza. Two friends. Cut it right down the middle. Each friend gets one half. We write it one over two.
One over four is a quarter
Cut the same pizza into four equal parts. Each piece is a quarter. One over four.
Two quarters = one half
Different fractions, same amount.
Two quarters make a half. They look different but they're the same amount of pizza.
Try it
Three parts out of four are shaded. What fraction is that?
What parents should watch for
- Accepting any two pieces as halves regardless of size.
- Forgetting that the pieces must come from the same whole.
- Thinking a quarter is bigger than a half because four is bigger than two.
- Only recognising halves in circles and not in bars, sets or lengths.
Land 44 · Equal Share Orchard — 10 levels for ages 5–8 in the fractions strand. Mapped to 1.G.A.3 (Common Core), Numbers (UK EYFS/KS1) and P1 Fractions (Singapore Math).
Play Equal Share Orchard in the Yaze Adventure Map — games built on this exact skill.
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