Cooking is a fun way of introducing many mathematical concepts . By allowing a child to help weigh out the ingredients – old fashioned scales are best that are used with weights - a child is able to see what balancing or heavier or lighter looks like . Cooking can also allow a child to count out spoonfuls of flour or pour out volumes of water . Heavy and light are very relative terms and a child needs lots of practical experiences of holding things , lifting things and carrying things in order for them to appreciate these concepts .
Time is a difficult concept for a young child and even for many adults . What is important for young children to consider is concepts like soon , later , one more day , tomorrow and yesterday . A young child will typically work out in ‘ sleeps ’ how many days until an important date like a long-awaited birthday . By the adult talking to the child about what is happening during daily routines , the child will come to understand these concepts .
Playing board games is a great way of learning about the size of numbers and what happens as we add more numbers or take them away . A board game , such as Snakes and Ladders , is a good example of this . As well as the numbers on the board , children are able to roll and count the numbers on the dice . Playing snap with playing cards is a good way for children to recognise the patterns that numbers make as they recognise how the pattern of three differs from the pattern of five .
Patterns are very important in maths and a child who can recognise and make patterns will be able to see patterns and relationships in numbers when they get to school . To encourage pattern making , try threading beads or cotton reels in repeating patterns , printing patterns with paints , laying out coloured sweets in a repeating pattern or looking at patterns around us in nature like a spider ’ s web or on fabric . In these fun ways children will enjoy exploring patterns .
Recognising numerals and writing them is often an area that parents focus on as they feel that it is important children learn them at the youngest possible age . While being able to use numerals as a label is essential , it is important for a child to understand the size of a number- for example that 3 is smaller than 6 and bigger than 1 . This only comes about when children have had a lot of chances to play with object sorting , counting and matching . Young children should not be expected to write numerals until at least the age of 3 or 4 years ; this skill is much more related to hand-eye coordination and the fine motor skill of pencil control , than it is to any kind of mathematical understanding .
The role of the adult is to provide meaningful experiences and allow the child to learn through the everyday activities that they do together . It is also to provide the language , to play alongside and with the child , taking their lead from them and guiding and extending the rich experiences that they have . In this way , through play a young child will be able to have all the experiences that lay the good foundations for developing their mathematical skills .