Nursery World - Nursery Equipment: Maths

There is potential for mathematical learning in all areas of a
nursery, so long as practitioners are open to possibilities. Judith
Stevens suggests ideas to inspire three- to five-year-olds.

Young children's maths learning should be supported throughout both indoor and outdoor provision. A nursery team may choose to identify a 'maths zone', where specific resources are stored for use in all areas, but practitioners also need to identify the maths learning potential everywhere with everyday objects.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Practitioners need to consider several issues when picking maths resources.

Provide flexible resources

Don't be lured into buying sets of very limited mathematical resources that can be used in only one way - for example, sorting materials that can only be arranged by prime colours. Choose resources that can be used very flexibly, to explore aspects of measure such as weight or length as well as inspiring children to sort, compare and count.

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