• Will all this milk fit in your cereal bowl? Your child’s answer will probably change daily, depending on the amount of milk and the size of their bowl.
• Will all this juice fit in your glass? The answer will probably change daily, depending on the amount of juice and the size of their glass.
Washing dishes
• Have your child carefully sort the dishes by type, size, color, or by which cabinet or drawer they belong in.
• Ask your child, Will all the dishes fit in the sink or dishwasher? Talk about their understanding of capacity: how much will fit inside something else.
Activities for daily household routines
These pages provide suggestions for engaging your preschool child in tasks that develop their mathematical thinking. These are play-based activities that will engage young learners while building their understanding of quantity, capacity, and other essential skills. By asking your child questions like those below, you will help them understand the world around them:
• How many are there? Are there more here or there? Point to two groups of objects that have different numbers.
• What are the attributes of this object? For example, color, size, or function.
• Can you find something longer than this? Something shorter? Try to use other opposite words, for example, heavier/lighter, wider/thinner.
• Where is this [object relative to something else]? For example, Is the cupboard above the kitchen bench? Try to use other positional words, for example, below, beside, behind.
These activities can be repeated frequently with simple substitutions for variety. One day, you might ask your child to look for objects that are wider than the example you show them, and the next day they will look for ones that are thinner. Use these activities to incorporate mathematical thinking into your household chores, regular playtime, and reading time routines with your child.
• Have your child sort laundry by size, type, color, or by the person who wears the clothes.
Eating snacks
• Give your child a snack (up to 20 items), such as a variety of crackers, or small pieces of fruit.
Ask them to count the number of items. Encourage them to count them one by one, ensuring no item is counted twice.
Ask your child to sort the snack by color, size, shape, or type before eating.
Having a bath
• Give your child various plastic cups, bottles, and bowls at bath time. Allow them to fill up each container.
Ask, Which container holds the most? Which container holds the least? Talk about their understanding of capacity: how much will fit inside something else.
Encourage your child to sort bath toys by type, size, color, or shape.
Ask your child to count each group of toys.
Encourage them to count the toys one by one, ensuring no item is counted twice.
Recognizing length and using it to compare objects
• Ask your child to walk around the house or yard and find objects that are longer, shorter, wider, or thinner than their arm, hand, leg, or foot.
• Have your child count the number of steps (up to 20) it takes for them to get from one place to another in your house or outside. Ask, How many steps did you take? Encourage a detailed response such as, “I took 10 steps.”
• Use pennies, buttons, sticks, rocks, or similar to create groups of 10 or fewer. Ask your child to count the number of objects in each group. Encourage them to count the items one by one, ensuring no item is counted twice.
• Write the numbers 1 to 10 on individual sticky notes. Post them around your house. Ask your child to search for the sticky notes and then place them in the correct order.
Card games
• Take the cards that represent 1 (ace) to 10 from a deck of playing cards.
Use the cards to play games like Go Fish or Memory.
Sort the cards by suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades) and shuffle each suit. Give one suit of cards to your child and choose another for yourself. Challenge your child to put the cards in the correct order before you do.
Shape walks
• Take your child on a walk around the house or outside.
Ask your child to look for different three-dimensional (3D) objects, such as spheres, cubes, cylinders, and cones, which can be measured in terms of length, width, and height. For example:
• Find a picture book at home or online that is similar to the ones shown below. Read it through with your child without stopping. Read it again, stopping after each double-page spread to discuss what they can see. Discussion starters could include:
16
There are many animals in the lake.Can you count each group they make?
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The ORIGO Big Book: How Many Animals? is used to introduce counting 1 to 5 in a group.
Point to the [frogs] and count how many you see. Then ask about the other groups they can see.
Point to something that is [green]. Repeat for other colors.
4
I think I’ll go fl ying, right above this tree.
5
Then I’ll fl y below this branch I can see.
The ORIGO Big Book: I Think I’ll Go Flying is used to introduce positional language.
Point to the bird that is above the tree. Repeat using other positional words, such as below the branch.
Can you count the number of leaves on the branch? What your child counts should be 20 or fewer.
