Maths learning is child’s play Maths for kids of all ages

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.

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.

The possibilities for maths learning can be seen in many other play areas in early learning settings. Play activities including small animal figures, car and transport vehicles, and natural objects such as shells, gumnuts, or small stones encourage children to compare, match and sort items. Children may do this spontaneously as part of their play and educators will also intentionally support them to explore similar and different characteristics of the play items, sorting them by colour, texture, size or weight. Using descriptive language helps children understand and name the characteristics – e.g. smooth pebble, rough shell, blue car, little pig. This leads to deeper knowledge of ordering, sequences and patterns. Children readily cue into sequences and reveal their sequencing knowledge – just try skipping a page in their favourite story! They are quick to remind us that we’ve missed a section. Children know there is an order to the story and about turning pages in sequence. Of course, learning about numbers is a big part of early maths education. Counting activities help to build children’s knowledge about number patterns and sequences. Also reading and telling stories with numbers and ordering supports maths learning, for example The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Three Billy Goat Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, 10 Little Fingers and10 Little Toes. Hands-on play with calculators, computer keyboards, dice, hopscotch are just a few of the experiences that can support number recognition. Early learning services, inspired by the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, are a wonderful setting for developing children’s mathematical learning through play and encouraging their confidence and motivation as learners.

By Sabina Klepp, Program Practice Partner Story House Early Learning. www.shel.edu.au