Number and counting 67

Planning number and counting experiences

The range of counting experiences needed to develop understanding of number and
counting will come from both planned activities and incidental adult interventions
in children’s play. Counting can occur in any play environment and it is the skill of
the adult to engage with the children and to extend their number language and their
understanding through careful, sensitive commentating, questioning and challenging.

Setting up environments for number and counting

Counting materials
Counting materials may be specific collections of interesting items and trays with
mixed collections, or items placed in an environment with the specific purpose of
encouraging counting, such as shells and pebbles in the sand tray; carrots and
potatoes in the kitchen area; coins and purses in the shop; skittles and balls as part
of outdoor play. These should be available for the children to choose for free play
as well as items such as beads and laces, farm and animals, garage and cars, and so
on. Structured number apparatus should also be provided to encourage subitization
including dice, dominoes, playing cards, abacuses and perhaps commercially
available materials such as Numicon®.

Books, rhymes and songs

In the book area, counting can be encouraged by ensuring that suitable books are
easily accessible, perhaps as part of a special display. These can be used during
carpet time, with all the children, or as part of a focused activity with a small group.
Counting rhymes and songs, particularly those with actions, help children to
practise the number names in order. Some number rhymes count up in ones, such
as ‘One, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive’, and ‘Peter taps with one
hammer’. Many rhymes count down, for example ‘Five currant buns in the baker’s
shop’, ‘Ten in the bed’ and ‘Five little ducks went swimming one day’. Some
emphasise counting forward or backwards in twos, such as ‘One, two, buckle my
shoe’ and ‘Ten fat sausages, sizzling in a pan’. All of these help children to recognise
the counting patterns and to remember the order of the counting names. There are
many good-quality books and audiotapes of nursery rhymes and songs which
include counting rhymes.
The provision of play materials related to number rhymes, songs and stories will
encourage children to act out the ‘story’ and practise counting (Figure 3.12). These
may include ducks and a pond; frogs, a log and a pond; currant buns and sausages
(made from felt or dough); monkeys and a bed to bounce on; spacemen and a flying
saucer …
68 Number and counting

Figure 3.12 Using the numbers jigsaw while singing ‘5 little ducks went swimming one day’

Number frieze and tracks

A wide variety of representations of number quantities and symbols is essential. A
number frieze shows the link between the numeral and its cardinal value, for
example, 3 and a picture of three frogs. A number track, where the numerals can be
placed in order, is a worthwhile resource to emphasise the ordinal nature of number.
The numerals can be large, perhaps half the height of the children themselves. If
they are made from tactile materials the children can also experience touching and
tracing the shapes of the numerals. Such a number track can become part of the
children’s play: Carruthers (1997) describes how the children developed games
which involved the numerals, made personal choices of numerals, such as their age
numerals, and made their own, written number lines. Number cards can be pegged
onto a ‘washing line’ allowing the children to order them and play missing number
games where someone hides one of the numbers and the others have to find which
one is missing.
Other representations of number can be used around the setting. Bikes can be
labelled and parking spaces created with matching numbers. Notices can inform the
 Number and counting 69

children when there are limits to the number of children allowed to work in a
particular area or where children place their name cards on a board to show where
they are working (Figure 3.13). They will learn to recognise how many, and check to
see if there is a space for them.

Counting display
An interactive number display can be set up on a table or cupboard top to explore
counting, with pegs and pegboards, beads and laces, or small cubes. Occasionally
the children could choose a ‘number of the day’ to explore. When celebrating
someone’s fourth birthday, children could count out four pegs and see how many
different patterns of four they can make, then perhaps use these patterns to decorate
cupcakes with Smarties. They collect as many different things around the setting
with a four-ness about them: a car with four wheels, a doll’s house chair with four
legs, the four page in a number book, and make birthday cards with 4 on.

Number games
Number games, such as simple dice and board games, number dominoes and
number snap games, can be available as games for the children to choose or as part
of a focused activity with an adult. They should all become familiar with counting
games using a dice and board, and number-matching games with jigsaws, playing
cards, lotto and dominoes. Games which require children to throw a ‘six’ or another
‘magic’ number before they start to play can be frustrating at this age, as children
want to play the game, not wait for a dice start number.

Sand pit 4 children can play in the water.

Put your name tag here:

David
eem
Nazr

Lee
e
Molli

Only 6 children at a time

Figure 3.13 Notices or name boards by the sand or water play areas encourage children to
count, check and interpret data
70 Number and counting

Adult intervention in children’s play

Adults must learn to recognise whether it is appropriate to intervene in children’s
play, taking account of what the children are doing and why. Interventions must
extend the children’s thinking, through careful discussion and questioning, encour-
aging children to use counting language, and helping them to become familiar with
new vocabulary. But it should not interfere with the children’s play: insisting that
children count when they are happily engaged in purposeful play is unlikely to
develop positive attitudes to counting. The following are everyday examples of
events in settings:

I Ravit and Ghalib are paying a game with frogs but arguing over who has which
frogs. The adult suggests that they share them out equally and encourages the
children to count to check that they have the same number.

I Tim and Anna decide to build a slide for the dumper trucks with the large blocks.
They ask an adult to help them carry the pieces outside. The adult asks how
many they think they will need. Tim says three; Anna says more than that! So
they agree to count as they carry them out to see how many they do need.

I Susie is sitting quietly, counting out dough cakes for teddy. One, two, five, three.
The adult asks how many cakes teddy has. Susie says ‘Lots!’ They count them
together.

Observing and listening to the children will help the adult to identify children’s
purpose in their play and offer insight into their understanding. In both adult-
initiated and directed tasks, all adults should be aware of the purpose of the
activities and the types of questions which could extend the children’s thinking, to
enable then to make purposeful interventions. If the focus for a week is number or
counting, it may help to have a poster up reminding adults of the specific language
and some key questions that could be asked.

Developing problem-solving strategies through counting

Counting is itself a problem-solving strategy used to answer questions. Counting
and number tasks should be purposeful in solving problems rather than context-
free. Children’s ability to count is an essential part of their growing understanding
of number and they should be encouraged to ask, and be asked, questions in
meaningful contexts, such as:

I How many? Ghopal wanted to nail two pieces of wood together. He asked Mark
to pass him some nails. ‘How many do you need?’ asked Mark.

I Who has more? Joanna was working in the outdoor sandpit making sandcastles
and decorating them with flags. She made four sandcastles. She counted them,
 Number and counting 71

then counted the flags as she put them onto the sandcastles. ‘One, two, three,
four. That’s just right. There’s one for each!’

I Are there enough? Steven was assisting a parent helper to put out the biscuits for
his group for snack time. He said, as he put out the biscuits on a plate, ‘Jo is here
and Maria and Lisa. That’s one, two, three. That’s three biscuits.’ The parent
reminded him that there were four in the group. ‘Four, oh silly me. I forgot me!
That’s one, two, three, four. Four biscuits!’

Adult-focused activities
An adult-focused activity is one that is planned with specific learning experiences
and outcomes in mind, to be taught by an adult (see Chapter 8). The adult could
withdraw a specific group of children for a focused activity, or encourage some
children to join them in play, for example in the cafe to role play serving, ordering
and giving and receiving money. Some focused activities may be carried out in
larger groups, such as singing number songs at carpet time. Carefully planned
focused activities will ensure that over a period of time children experience
activities designed to develop the key concepts as outlined above. The following
examples of adult-focused counting activities show the underlying thinking behind
the planning, including the concepts to be developed and the learning outcomes
which might be observed. These elements help to ensure that the purpose of the
activity is clear to the adults and this may also be shared with the children at the
beginning of the session.

Patterns of 5
An activity for a group of up to four children.

I Purpose: to encourage subitization of 5 and see how this can be represented in

different ways.

I Materials: pegboards and pegs, or playdough and buttons.

I Language: number words to 5, enough, same.

How to begin
Show the children a representation of 5 on your pegboard which looks like the 5 on
dice. Ask the children how many pegs. Discuss and count if necessary. Ask them to
count out five pegs each and make their own pattern. Check numbers and help
count if necessary. If they make one the same as yours praise them, then ask if they
can make a different pattern. Discuss the patterns made. What is the same about
them? What is different? This can be adapted with larger numbers up to 10.
72 Number and counting

Number rhymes and stories

Activities for everyone as part of carpet time, or for a small group.

I Purpose: to learn the order of the counting numbers; to begin to recognise that
the order of the counting numbers is stable.

I Materials: a selection of counting rhymes where the count is ordered forward

from one. Puppets or dressing-up clothes can be used if the rhymes are to be
acted. A story which uses number, for example When I Was One by Colin and
Jacqui Hawkins.

I Language: counting number words.

How to begin

Counting rhymes
Choose a favourite counting rhyme where the counting goes forward, such as ‘Peter
taps with one hammer’. Children sing this, copying the actions in time with the song.
Sing or recite other rhymes where the counting goes forward, such as ‘One, two,
buckle my shoe’; ‘One elephant went out to play’; ‘One, two, three, four, Mary at the
cottage door’. Use fingers to represent the numbers.

Rhythmic counting
Encourage the children to repeat a sequence of numbers with you, alternately
slapping knees and clapping hands to make a rhythm at the same time:

Say: one two one two one two one two one two …
Action: slap clap slap clap slap clap slap clap slap clap …
Say: one two three four one two three four one two …
Action: slap clap slap clap slap clap slap clap slap clap …

Count in threes, slapping knees, clapping hands, hands on heads:

Say: one two three one two three one two three one …
Action: slap clap head slap clap head slap clap head slap …

Count in fives, this time saying the numbers one to four quietly with quiet clapping,
and five loudly with a pat on the head:

Say: one two three four five one two three four five …
quiet quiet quiet quiet loud quiet quiet quiet quiet loud …
Action: clap clap clap clap pat clap clap clap clap pat …
 Number and counting 73

A number story
Read a number story. When I Was One by Colin and Jacqui Hawkins (Picture Puffin)
counts each birthday. Ask:

I Who has a birthday this week? How old will you be? Let’s count to four …

I Who is nearly five years old? Let’s count to five …

I Who has a brother or sister who is more than five? Let’s count to …

A number track could also be used to extend the activity. Can you find the number
four? …

Washing line game

An activity for a group of five children.

I Purpose: to develop the language of ordering.

I Materials: washing line, pegs, cards with pictures on from one to five or more
items, cards with numerals 1 to 10, or beyond.

I Language: number words, one more than, one fewer than, before, after, next, first,
last …

How to begin
Start with the picture cards 1–5. The children each take a picture card. They
decide the cardinal value of it. They take turns to peg their card onto the washing
line:

I Let’s peg the cards on in order. Which one comes first?

I Which card comes after three?

I Which one comes next?

When all the cards are in order, ask the children to collect a particular card:

I Jasmin, can you find the card before three?

I John, can you find the one after four?

When they are confident with picture cards, the activity can be repeated with larger
quantities. Where children are beginning to recognise numerals, numeral cards
instead of picture cards can be used.
74 Number and counting

Give a dog a bone

An activity for a group of three children.

I Purpose: to practise counting out a number from a larger group and making a
matching set.

I Materials: a set of about 24 small cards with pictures of a dog and 30 matchsticks
(without heads) or pictures to represent bones.

I Language: counting numbers, same, more fewer.

How to begin
Ask each child in turn to count out seven dog cards and place them on the table in
front of them. Observe whether they know when to stop. When all have seven cards,
ask ‘How many dogs do you have? How do you know? If the dogs each want a bone,
how many bones will you need?’ Ask the children to take enough bones. Observe
whether they use counting or 1:1 matching (dog to bone). Ask ‘Have you got the
same number of dogs and bones? How do you know?’
The game can be adapted to fit favourite stories or topics, e.g. mother and baby
animals.

TouchCounts
An app providing an exploratory environment, designed by mathematics research-
ers for young children.

I Purpose: to support children’s conceptual understanding of number naming,

counting, and skip-counting; ordinality, cardinality, even and odd numbers, less-
than, greater-than and equal-to relationships; and subitization, addition and
subtraction.

I Materials: tablet with TouchCounts loaded on it.

I Language: number words.

How to begin
Children can make choices and be in control in this open exploratory environment.
Further ideas available from http://touchcounts.ca.

Involving other adults in the planned activities

Where there are children whose home language is not English, there will be oppor-
tunities for helpers to encourage counting in their home language as well as in
English. Parents may help with this as well as adults in the setting who speak the
home language.
 Number and counting 75

When the staff meet together to plan, they can be made aware of the range of
counting activities available during the sessions and agree on the vocabulary which
they will try to encourage. Where other adults have not been involved at the
planning stage, it is helpful for them to have a prompt sheet which lists briefly the
planned activities and their purpose, with examples of questions which can be used
to encourage the children to extend the children’s understanding.

Setting up environments for number and counting activities

Table 3.2 shows suggestions for contexts across the setting which could offer
opportunities for discussions about number and counting during child-initiated
learning, or be set up for adult-initiated or focused activities.

Assessment

What to look for

Regular observations of individual children, noting their use of language and how
they count, will give useful evidence of what children can do and what they under-
stand, and identify aspects of counting where children lack confidence. The
assessment checkpoints and key questions in Table 3.1 can be used to help with
assessment. These include both closed questions (how many?) and open questions
(how do you know?) which encourage reflection. Observations can be recorded,
with evidence of the child’s behaviour to support their understanding. Regular
observations will show whether a child:

I knows number names in order to 5, 10, 20 …

I can match counting words and items

I knows that the last number in the count is the cardinal value of the set

I counts by touching and partitioning; counts by pointing; counting ‘in head’ …

I recognises numerals to 10 and beyond and can order them

I counts on and/or back from any number, counts in steps of 2, 5, 10

I uses number and counting flexibly in solving problems.

Children respond well to questions such as ‘How many do you have?’ and ‘Have I
got the same number?’ especially where they have been encouraged to use the
mathematical vocabulary that they hear the adults using. Gradually they begin to
respond in sentences and this should be encouraged. Initially young children tend
not to respond to reflective questions such as ‘How do you know that one has six?’
Table 3.2 Number and counting activities across areas of the setting
Environment Concept/skill Contexts

Carpet time • Stable-order counting • Counting stories

• Count how many • Number action rhymes
• Show a given number, e.g. of • Acting out a story: dressing up; using
fingers puppets; imagination games

Daily routines • Count how many • Taking the register

• Recognising numerals • Finding the number card for number
• Count out a given quantity of dinners required
• Counting out snacks, drinks
• Counting out/away, e.g. paintbrushes,
scissors
• Counting how many can work in the
sand, water …

Art and craft areas • Count by touching and partitioning • Counting how many, to make a
• Count pictures collage: pieces of scrap paper, pasta
• Count in 2s shells, shiny things …
• Sticking pictures cut from a
catalogue; painting a picture:
counting how many …
• Making dough models: counting how
many models, how many eyes (count
in 2s) …
Table top games and • Use subitizing skills to recognise how • Recognising quantities: playing
collections many number snap, lotto …
• Count by touching and partitioning • Counting how many: beads on a
• Count physical movements lace; pegs on a pegboard …
• Recognising numerals in order • Counting along a track: board games
with dice
Sand and water • Count out a given quantity • Making three, four sandcastles
• Count how many • Putting four cups of water in the
water wheel
Construction • Counting out a given quantity • Making a tower with five bricks
• Count how many • Counting how many big blocks to
• Making two groups the same make a road
• This tower has more; make that one
have the same number of bricks
Role play • Counting out a given quantity • Dressing up: role playing, e.g. The
• Count how many three bears: chairs, beds, porridge,
• Recognising numerals using telephone
• Shopping, playing
customer/shopkeeper roles:
counting out coins, using till and
calculator
• Preparing food in the home area:
counting out enough plates for the
four guests, using diaries and
calendar for making appointments
 Number and counting 77

Table 3.2 Continued

Environment Concept/skill Contexts

Small-world play • Counting out a given quantity • Doll’s house: putting three people in
• Count how many the kitchen; two in the bedroom …
• Road floor plan: counting how many
cars on this road; how many lorries
…

Outside play • Counting how many • Playing skittles: how many did you
• Recognising numerals knock down? Find numeral to
record score
• Counting how many beanbags you
can throw into hoop
• Counting along a number track

but with practice, and if adults model the sort of answers they might give, they learn
to answer such questions.

Errors in number and counting

Children’s understanding and use of number and counting will develop con-
siderably between the ages of three and five. Most counting errors are due to
immature concept development and so will indicate the kinds of experiences
children will need to develop their understanding. Misconceptions and difficulties
which children encounter with counting include:

I errors related to stable-order principle:

I counting words limited to first two or three and use of ‘many’ for greater
quantities

I counting words not yet stable: sometimes repeated, missed out or used in a
different order

I consistent errors made in counting string, e.g. always missing out 14

I making generalisation errors when counting larger numbers e.g. eighteen,

nineteen, tenteen.

I errors related to one-to-one principle:

I not able to coordinate touch and count: touching item to be counted more
than once or not at all; reciting counting words faster than can touch

I not recognising that number words with two syllables, e.g. sev-en, or number
words with more than one word, e.g. twenty-two, are still single labels and so
assigning these to more than one item.
78 Number and counting

I errors related to cardinal principle:

I not understanding that final count word applies to the whole set

I not stopping at target number when counting out.

For all these errors, children will benefit from more experience of counting, using
a range of different contexts. All adults in the setting should be made aware of
which children are experiencing difficulties, what types of errors they make, and
which experiences will help the children to improve their counting skills when
counting opportunities arise in play. Focused activities can also be planned to give
further, specific experience of counting.
In English, children need to learn ten discrete number names, then order them,
in order to be able to count from one to ten. Once children begin to count beyond
ten, our English number names are confusing. We say eleven, twelve, thirteen …
There is no discernible pattern of naming the numbers here, nor of helping the
children to understand what these numbers mean. This makes counting more
difficult than in some other languages, which use a system with structured counting
numbers after ten: ten-one, ten-two …; then two-ten, two-ten-one … Children will
benefit from having many opportunities to say number names in order so that the
words become secure.
Joseph was six years old and had just learnt to count beyond twenty. He was in
a class of children who were a year younger than him in order to provide him with
further early literacy and mathematical experiences. He announced one morning, ‘I
can do it!’ and was asked to count for all of the children to hear. All went well at
first: eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two … And then twenty-eight,
twenty-nine, twenty-ten, twenty-eleven … Joseph had learnt that the number
patterns repeat. What he still had not figured out was how the number names
changed with the new decade.

Working in partnership with parents and carers

For partnership between home and setting to develop effectively, many parents will
welcome opportunities to work with their children at home, reinforcing and
extending the experiences which their children have had during the day. To support
the partnership, some nurseries have set up lending libraries of books, toys and
games which parents organise for themselves.

Activities for number and counting at home

These activities do not require any special equipment, as they make use of everyday
items in the home.
 Number and counting 79

Number and counting everyday things at home:

I the cans of baked beans to go into the cupboard; the carrots into the rack; the
apples into the fruit dish

I all the red cars; all the play-people; the bricks as they go away; the stairs on the
way to bed

I enough plates for everyone for dinner; biscuits for each child; fish fingers onto
the plates; enough for everyone to have a sweet

I noticing and using numerals (number symbols) on the TV remote, telephone,

calendar …

Number and counting on the way to setting:

I the houses along the street; the cars that go past; the trees in the garden; the
windows in that house; the chimneys on the roof

I noticing the numerals on houses, cars, road signs; identifying which bus to catch
by the number.

Number and counting when out shopping:

I coins for paying for goods; all the pennies; the postage stamps for the letters;
how many cakes for tea; enough oranges for everyone to have one

I noticing prices and comparing costs and quantities.

Number and counting games that can be played at home

These can be game packs for lending to parents, or homes may already have some.
Again, they do not require sophisticated equipment, relying upon playing cards,
boards, dice and dominoes. Special children’s picture cards can be purchased from
toy shops. If using standard playing cards you may want to take out the larger
numbers and picture cards, starting with just 1–5 then 1–10.

I Card games:

I Snap: matching for number.

I Pelmanism: cards are placed face down either in rows or in a random

arrangement, and two are turned over each time; when matching quantities
are found, the player keeps that pair and the winner has the most pairs of
matching cards.

I Lotto: picture lotto, where the items in the pictures can be counted, gives good
experience of pointing and counting pictures.
80 Number and counting

I Dominoes: children match the ends of dominoes for ‘sameness’ (Figure 3.14).

Figure 3.14 Domino match

I Board games with a dice: Snakes and Ladders, Ludo and other simple track
games can be played where children match the number on the dice with physic-
ally counting along the board’s track.

Story books, songs and rhymes

Number rhymes and songs are widely available in books and recordings, and you
may well know some from your own childhood. Story books have been specially
written with a focus on number and counting including Grey Rabbit’s 1, 2, 3 –
Alan Baker, One Bear at Bedtime – Mick Inkpen, Anno’s Counting Book –
Mitsumasa Anno, How Many Legs? – Kes Gray, as well as a number of traditional
stories such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Three Little Pigs. In addition to
this, almost all stories offer the opportunity to practise counting when discussing
the illustrations.