Pre-Writers Club: Repairing the wall

Maths - Number (40-60+ months):

Counts out up to six objects from a larger group.

What you need:

I find if you go straight for introducing the game they will just want to knock the wall down, so start by let your child exploring building with the blocks and knocking them down. You could sing Humpty Dumpty as you play. Build your own wall at the same time and talk about whose wall is higher. Model counting as you add bricks to your wall. This is a great opportunity to develop speech and language as you play.

I find the best way to introduce this game is to just start playing and then your child is likely to notice and want to join in. Roll the dice and count the spots. Then take that many blocks from the pile. Start to build a wall. Repeat this, taking the correct number of blocks from the pile before adding them to your wall. Your child might join in with your wall or start to build their own. Can they add the blocks carefully and repair the wall without making it fall?

Subitising - this is the process of immediately recognising how many items are in a small group without counting. When a dice is rolled, we immediately recognise the pattern on the face as a number, without needing to count the number of dots. Subitising helps young children to develop number sense by helping them to relate numbers to actual items or groups of items. Children learn to count by rote but might not really understand the meaning behind what they are doing. By looking at groups of items, children can start to develop an understanding of how a number is made up. If your child doesn't recognise the amount on the dice it is fine to get them to count. They more the use the dice, the more they will become familiar with the arrangement of the dots.

Counting objects from a pile - Children need to remember the order of the number words as they count, saying one number word as they take each block. They need to remember the stopping number (the number on the dice) and stop taking bricks when they reach that number. Encourage them to count the blocks from the pile before adding them to the wall.

If you have a go at this activity and share any photos on social media I would love to see them. Please tag @miniwritersclub and let me know how you get on.

Anna