Counting to ten
Maths · Early Years · The School
Touch and count
Put five toys in a line. Touch each one as you say a number. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Touching stops you counting the same toy twice. Here is the counting rule. One touch, one number. Never skip one. Never count one twice.
The last number wins
When you finish counting, the LAST number tells you how many there are. One, two, three, four, five. Five! That is how many toys. Grown-ups call this the cardinal rule. Ask how many after every count. Keep asking until the answer pops out without you having to count all over again.
Number spotting
Numbers hide everywhere. On doors. On buses. On clocks. On remote controls. On birthday cards. Hunt for a 3 today. Then hunt for a 7. Can you find your own age? Seeing numbers out in the world teaches you something important. Counting is not just a game you do at school. It is how the world keeps track of things.
Put six buttons in a line. Touch and count. One, two, three, four, five, six. Six! Now MIX THEM UP into a heap and count them again. Touch each one and push it aside, so you know which ones you have done. One, two, three, four, five, six. Still six. Nothing was added. Nothing was taken away. So the answer could not change. And pushing each counted button aside is the trick that stops you counting one of them twice. Now try it with eight.