A positive attitude towards and an understanding of
mathematical concepts are important in everyday
life. These develop slowly in young children, so
they need opportunities to revisit activities and to
experience mathematical ideas in many different
contexts. Staff in the pre-school setting should seek
to extend, informally, the mathematical experiences
the children have already had in their home
environment. This helps to lay the foundations for
positive attitudes.

All areas of indoor and outdoor play, everyday
routines, songs, rhymes, jingles, stories and
games provide opportunities to foster children’s
understanding of mathematical concepts such as
sorting, matching, comparing, classifying, counting
and making patterns.
Young children learn and develop through:
• experimenting with a wide range of materials;
• exploring and investigating the properties of
materials;
• being given time to consolidate their
understanding of concepts;
• hearing mathematical language being used as a
natural part of conversations with adults; and
The Curriculum The Curriculum 27
• being encouraged to use mathematical language
as they talk about their experiences and findings
with adults and peers.