Resources, materials, and digital technologies

Early childhood educators can use easily accessible household items such pasta shapes, socks, buttons, plastic cups, measuring spoons, and ice cube trays to encourage creativity and numeracy.  These provide chances to practise counting, sorting, measuring, and forming patterns in fun, practical settings.  Virtual pattern blocks, shape-recognition games, and interactive counting apps are examples of digital tools that can improve arithmetic learning and engagement.  Educators can also utilise tablets to record children's numerical stories or take pictures of patterns.  Children can study mathematical functions in a meaningful and developmentally appropriate way with the aid of basic tools like timers, digital scales, and calculators (Edwards, 2017).

Learning experiences

0–2 years: Sorting socks according to size and colour helps with pattern identification and classification.

 2–3 years: To improve number sense, construct towers out of plastic cups and count levels out loud.

 3 to 5 years: Establishing a "home café" with menu prices and using bottle caps as currency to teach counting and early financial literacy.

 6–8 years: Using actual or imaginary objects to measure, divide, and estimate portions for a "family picnic"—making the connection between measurement, division, and reasoning.

Learning opportunities

0–2 years: "Treasure Tray Tally": Children experiment with amount, positioning, and early one-to-one communication using a muffin tray and small household objects (such as cotton balls and lids).

 2–3 years: "Snack Stack": Children create snack patterns out of food items like crackers, fruit slices, or spaghetti, which helps them learn AB/ABC patterns and sequencing.

 3–5 years: "Laundry Maths": Using laundry materials, children measure string lengths, count pegs, and match socks by size and pattern, promoting measuring, classification, and numeracy.