8 ways to help young kids develop number sense
We all know that talking and reading to our children before school age is critical for their language development. According to research, the same seems to be true for number sense.
Number sense is the ability to understand numbers and how they relate to each other. Children with number sense can think about numbers in a flexible way and manipulate them to solve problems.
We wrote this article - How do young children think about maths? - about the science behind mathematical development in kids. Now, here are some practical ways that parents can talk about numbers with 3-5 year-olds to help them build an understanding of maths for future success.
1. Count
It may seem like a no-brainer, but count everyday objects, every day.
When kids are younger, count steps, buttons on coats, birds on the fence and more.
Introduce the counting by asking your child, 'How many…?'
For example, 'How many trucks do you have? Let's count them. One, two, three…'.
2. Talk about shape
Describing shapes is the building block of geometry. Learning about shape helps develop spatial awareness which is an important early maths skill. Kids learn to visualise what happens when shapes are put together or rotated.
Lots of toddler toys like jigsaws and shape puzzles help develop these skills, but talking about shape is crucial for developing the language to describe them and the ability to understand them. Point out shapes when you are out and about, for example, 'Look at the round moon,' or 'Look at this triangular shell'.
3. Point out size
Comparison is an important foundational mathematical skill that really builds number sense.
Items can be compared according to size, shape, volume or weight. With younger children, introduce language like bigger, smaller, lighter and heavier. Compare the size of a handful of pebbles, or a large feather and a small stone, and talk about the differences together.
As children get older, they'll be able to answer questions like, 'Which is longer?' 'Which is heavier?'
For kids around four or five, you can talk about more abstract things like time. For example, the short time it takes to go to school, but the long time it takes to visit Aunt Sandra who lives far away. Just talking about these things and pointing them out helps children develop their number sense skills.
4. Group objects
Ask your child to gather all the red objects, or all the soft objects, or all the round objects (depending on what variety of chaos has reigned in your living room that day).
For slightly older children, gather some soft toys along with something completely different, like a car or ball.
Ask: 'Which one doesn't belong?' and talk about the reasons why.
Not only does this make tidy up time a marginally more fun activity, but it helps children with categorising, which is a core maths skill.
5. Use words to help understand quantity
Use words like more and less (or fewer) to help children understand the relationship between quantities.
Divide up some lego blocks between toys and ask, 'Who has more Lego?'
Move on to introducing concepts like addition and subtraction by asking 'How many should we give big bear so that they have the same number of blocks?'
Ask questions like:
'Do you have enough?'
'How many more do you need?'
When your child gets older and starts doing maths facts on paper, accompany this with visual aids and allow kids to manipulate blocks so that they can see the concept and think about how it works, rather than just memorising it.
6. Help kids see the relative position of numbers
The sheer quantity of kids songs and animations relating to counting to ten are mindblowing. They are also catchy and appealing, so most kids nail the 'words' to the number song pretty quickly, learning to count to ten or even higher.
The harder part of this is to help them learn why each number appears in the order it does and how they are related to each other.
Play really simple number games like snakes and ladders with numbered tracks to go up and down. This helps kids see the numbers in relation to each other, and understand that five is one less than six, which is one less than seven, etc.
7. Highlight the difference between quantity and size
Counting things like pieces of fruit helps kids to realise the difference between quantity and size. For example, one melon may be tricky for a child to hold with both hands, but they can easily have seven blueberries in just one palm.
8. Count non visible objects
Help kids get to grips with the abstraction principle by counting things that you can't touch.
Kids start out with counting by touching each item as they say the number, but then we have to introduce the idea that even things you can't see can be numbered and counted. For example, start by counting your child's family members when they are not there. Say: 'We've got Grandma and Grandpa, auntie Betty and uncle Paul…' counting on your fingers as you go.
As you can see, lots of crucial maths learning in the early years can be done in the course of daily life. It's just about knowing where to find the good opportunities which will give kids an extra depth of understanding and number sense to set them up for success in future.
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