Once a child understands the very basic concept of counting, they may develop a strong interest in numbers, maths and numeracy.
Unfortunately, maths is often seen as a boring, academic subject. This is not true! Maths is exciting and is rich with real-world applications. Young children can incorporate maths and STEM into their play every day.
EYLF learning outcomes
The Early Years Learning Framework says:
"Numeracy is the capacity, confidence and disposition to use mathematics in daily life. Children bring new mathematical understandings through engaging with problem solving. It is essential that the mathematical ideas with which young children interact are relevant and meaningful in the context of their current lives.
"Educators require a rich mathematical vocabulary to accurately describe and explain children’s mathematical ideas and to support numeracy development. Spatial sense, structure and pattern, number, measurement, data argumentation, connections and exploring the world mathematically are the powerful mathematical ideas children need to become numerate."
Children can learn maths by using a range of texts (5.2) and media (5.3), and understanding how symbols and pattern systems work (5.4). Children can use maths to hypothesise and solve problems (4.2). Through quantity and distribution, maths even teaches fairness! (2.3).
Learning experiences
Explore specific areas of maths
Explore these mathematics topics on Edly to find relevant learning experiences:
Find numbers in your environment
Go on a walk through your neighbourhood and invite children to take photos of the numbers they find (e.g. speed signs and house numbers). When you return to your childcare service, help the children print out the photos and glue them into a book. Now you can add the book to your bookshelf!
Alternatively, play a game where children find numbers in the classroom and your outdoor area.
Count loose parts
Provide a table or mat with interesting loose parts for children to count. An educator can sit with the children and give support: "How many shells are there? How do we know there are five shells? Which loose parts do we have the most of, sticks or shells?"
While this is a structured activity, early childhood educators can take the same approach during children's free play: "You have collected so many pebbles in your bucket! They make a rattling noise. Should we count them?"
Play guess and check
Provide a child with small groups of loose parts. Encourage them to guess how many parts are in each group, emphasising it is okay if they are not correct. Once the child has made a guess, help them check their guess by counting the parts.
Roll a dice
- Children can draw their own board games on a piece of paper that involve moving counters between squares to reach a finish line.
- Play manufactured board games like snakes and ladders. You can also print some out from the internet.
- Play a tally game using a dice. Each child has three turns at rolling the dice and writing down their numbers as a tally. After three turns, all children count their tallies and the player with the highest number is the winner.
- Bingo can be played with a dice. Each child needs a card featuring the numbers on a dice. Children take turns rolling the dice and covering the corresponding number on their card with a counter. The first child to cover all their numbers is the winner.
Play dominos
Preschool children can play dominos with relatively few rules. They can take turns or play independently. The primary goal of the game is to place tiles next to each other that have matching numbers. Children can connect the numbers in a way that the dominos form a long snake.
Of course, children can also develop their fine motor and engineering skills by standing the tiles on their ends to form a long line. When they push the end tile into the rest of the tiles, they will all fall down in a cascading motion.
Follow a recipe
Children can learn about quantity, measurement and estimation through cooking and baking. Choose recipes that allow children to count ingredients, use measuring cups or scales, and use a kitchen timer.
Routines
Share food
Maths can be fun, delicious and social. It is easily connected to concepts like fairness and sharing.
Introduce a daily routine where children share biscuits or popcorn pieces in a circle. This works perfectly during late snack time. Instead of handing out food to each child, play numeracy games with them.
- Large circular rice cakes can easily be split in half. Ask a child to choose a friend they would like to share their cracker with.
- Provide each child with the same number of popcorn pieces: "Everyone can have ten pieces of popcorn. I will help you count them out."
Interactions
Early childhood educators can model language relating to numbers, counting and quantity in their everyday conversations:
- "There are twenty children today."
- "We have fewer bananas than we have oranges."
- "What is the UV rating today? Can you write it on the whiteboard?"
- "It's your birthday! You're three years old today! I can see the number three on your badge."
- "Ruth has two but Alistair has eight! Is this fair?"
Events
2nd October is World Statistics Day
Resources
Picture books
- The Waterhole by Graeme Base
- Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox
- Let’s Count Goats! by Mem Fox
- Stack the Cats by Susie Ghahremani
- How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague
- Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
- Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
- Ten Flashing Fireflies by Philemon Sturges
Music
The Wiggles:
Super Simple Songs: