Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Cognitive Development (CD)

Subdomain: Mathematical Thinking and Expression

Goal: Children show understanding of numbers and quantities during play and other activities

Skill Progression: Recognizing number and subitizing

Age: 30-33 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 30-33 Months.

Observe an adult interacting with the child at mealtimes with small bites of food.

Suggest the adult play a game with the child called, “Tell me how many pieces of food you should get.” Ask the child to tell the adult how many pieces of food (crackers, fruit, meat etc.) the adult should give them, 1, 2, or 3. The adult then places 1-3 pieces of a food item on the plate and asks the child, “Was I right?” The adult is sometimes right or wrong. If the wrong amount is presented, the adult can say, “What did I do wrong?”

This is a fun game for the child because she gets to tell the adult what to do! It is fun for adults because they can clearly see what the child understands about numbers.

Encourage parents to play games involving number and subitizing or guessing amounts of from one to four. Being able to look at a small number of items and mentally know the amount will help children when they need to understand sets in math later.