MATHS LEARNING IS CHILD’S PLAY Play is at the centre of young children’s worlds. Children bring their imagination and knowledge to each play experience. When we watch young children play, at a surface level we notice that they are having fun as they use different play items, exploring and discovering new ideas. Looking deeper we begin to see that there is a whole lot more going on. Through their everyday play children are involved in early mathematical learning. The education programs in early learning centres and kindergartens help to extend children’s maths learning through play. Educators are guided by the early education theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, and the contemporary Early Years Learning Framework for Australia which endorses a play based, hands-on approach to learning, along with intentional teaching methods.
Babies Babies are involved in early maths learning when they are playing with objects they can grasp and move, including stacking rings, soft blocks, putting items inside each other, seeing themselves and objects reflected in mirrors. These experiences help to shape their early understandings of size and position. Early maths concepts are introduced and repeated when educators sing nursery rhymes with children, accompanied by simple hand actions. Twinkle, twinkle little star includes concepts of little, up, above and high. Baa baa black sheep introduces numbers and capacity – ‘3 bags full’. While very young children are not yet formally understanding these concepts, their play, language and actions with educators supports the development of early maths skills.
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2-3 years Children from 2-3 years of age enjoy sensory play with sand and water where early maths understandings continue to develop with filling and emptying, estimating quantity, becoming familiar with heavy and light, awareness of what full, half-full or empty means. Educators will set up a variety of play areas that support early maths learning with blocks, Duplo, magnets and other constructing activities. Children are invited to play with and manipulate these 3-dimensional objects, to connect, build, pull apart and discover new ways to reconstruct them. As they play, children are developing their understanding about weight, balance and counterbalance, length, spaces, shapes, and measurement. They extend their learning of mathematical concepts such as bigger, smaller, higher, lower, more, fewer, longer and shorter, as well as recognising and naming shapes. Jigsaw puzzles are a favourite activity for many children and as they progress from simple to more difficult puzzles, children demonstrate their growing ability for problem solving and an understanding of shapes, patterns, estimating and positioning.
3-5 years Children aged 3-5 years showcase their mathematical knowledge and skills through more complex games such as Uno or Snap, dominoes and board games using counters and dice. Early learning programs encourage children to try new activities as well as return to familiar activities, which gives children important opportunities to practice, embed and extend their maths learning.
