Early years number words

article
Counting collections in the early years

In this article for practitioners, Cath Gripton and Deliah Pawluch explore the 'counting collections' approach, which encourages children to spend time playing and experimenting with counting.
eyfs_activity
Incey Wincey

Age

3 to 5

In this game, children roll the dice and count how many steps to move the spider up or down the drainpipe.
eyfs_activity
Water, water ...

Age

3 to 5

This task provides a real-life context for children to compare capacities in order to choose the biggest container for their lemonade.
eyfs_activity
Tidying

Age

3 to 5

When tidying away toys in this activity, children will use their counting skills to check that all the toys are in the box.
eyfs_activity
The box game

Age

3 to 5

In this game, children will use their addition and subtraction skills to keep track of the number of toys hidden inside a box when toys are added in or taken out.
eyfs_activity
Show me

Age

3 to 5

In this task, children will learn different ways of representing the same number.
eyfs_activity
Owl's packing list

Age

3 to 5

In this activity, children can practise reading numbers and counting items in order to help Owl pack for his holiday.
eyfs_activity
Number rhymes

Age

3 to 5

In this activity, the rhyme 'Ten Green Bottles' is used to encourage children to count backwards to work out how many bottles are left.
eyfs_activity
Number book

Age

3 to 5

Creating a 'Book of Four' provides an opportunity for children to collect groups of four objects and consider how the groups of objects are similar.
eyfs_activity
Mud kitchen

Age

3 to 5

When playing in this mud kitchen, children will be using the language of size and capacity to choose utensils for different tasks.