All Modules B6-Development Matters in the early years | Page 35

Playing and Exploring, Active Learning, and Creating and Thinking Critically support children’s learning across all areas

6 Mathematics: Numbers, meassurment & sorting
Positive Relationships:

Enabling Environments:

what adults could do

what adults could provide

Notices changes in number of objects/images or sounds
in group of up to 3.
Plays to knock down blocks or nesting cups, then tries
to set a tower of 3
Repeats newly learned activities mastering skills
Enjoys some toys over others and explores with them
in multiple ways
Plays hide and seek looking for permanence of objects

• Sing number rhymes as you dress or change babies, e.g.
‘One, Two, Buckle My Shoe’.
• Move with babies to the rhythm patterns in familiar songs
and rhymes.
• Encourage babies to join in tapping and clapping along to
simple rhythms.

• Display favorite things so that a young baby can see
them.
• Provide a small group of the same objects in treasure
baskets, as well as single items, e.g. two fir cones or
three shells.
• Create a mobile, occasionally changing the number of
items you hang on it.
• Collect number rhymes which are repetitive and are
related to children’s actions and experiences, for
example, ‘Peter Hammers with One Hammer’.
• Use song and rhymes during personal routines, e.g.
‘Two Little Eyes to Look Around’, pointing to their eyes,
one by one.
• Collect number and counting rhymes from a range of
cultures and in other languages. This will benefit all
children and will give additional support for children
learning English as an additional language.

10. Starts simple counts when walking
11. Knows that things exist, even when out of sight.
12. Beginning to organize and categorize objects, e.g. putting all
the teddy bears together or teddies and cars in separate
piles.
13. • Says some counting words randomly.
14. Initiates exploration by pulling, pushing, rolling, lifting things
16-26 months 15. Plays with sand and different size buckets
16. Sorts objects in sets by one attribute
17. Starts organizing objects in own conceived patterns
18. Uses language of quantity randomly
19. Recognizes circles, triangles, squares and points to them

• Use number words in meaningful contexts, e.g. ‘Here is
your other mitten. Now we have two’.
• Talk to young children about ‘lots’ and ‘few’ as they play.
• Talk about young children’s choices and, where
appropriate, demonstrate how counting helps us to find
out how many.
• Talk about the maths in everyday situations, e.g. doing up
a coat, one hole for each button.
• Tell parents about all the ways children learn about
numbers in your setting. Have interpreter support or
translated materials to support children and families
learning English as an additional language

• Provide varied opportunities to explore ‘lots’ and ‘few’
in play.
• Equip the role-play area with things that can be sorted
in different ways.
• Provide collections of objects that can be sorted and
matched in various ways.
• Provide resources that support children in making oneto-one correspondences, e.g. giving each dolly a cup.

20. Selects a small number of objects from a group when
asked, for example, ‘please give me one’, ‘please give me
two’.
21. Recites some number names in sequence.
22. Creates and experiments with symbols and
marks representing ideas of number.
23. Begins to make comparisons between quantities.
22-36 months 24. Uses some language of quantities, such as ‘more’ and ‘a
lot’.
25. • Knows that a group of things changes in quantity
when something is added or taken away.

• Encourage parents of children learning English as an
additional language to talk in their home language about
quantities and numbers.
• Sing counting songs and rhymes which help to develop
children’s understanding of number, such as ‘Two Little
Dickie Birds’.
• Play games which relate to number order, addition and
subtraction, such as hopscotch and skittles and target
games.

• Make a display with the children about their favorite
things. Talk about how many like apples, or which of
them watches a particular TV programme at home.
• Provide props for children to act out counting songs
and rhymes.
• Provide games and equipment that offer opportunities
for counting, such as skittles.
• Plan to incorporate a mathematical component in areas
such as the sand, water or other play areas.

1.
2.
3.
4.
Birth - 11
months

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Begins matching one objects by one attribute
Develops an awareness of number names through their
enjoyment of action rhymes and songs that relate to
their experience of numbers.
Has some understanding that things exist, even when out
of sight. Finding hidden toys.
Pays with water and different cups

8-20 months

.

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Mathematics: Numbers

A Unique Child:
observing what a child is learning