How to include math in pretend play

Let your children develop their math language, understanding and proficiency as they play. Use these ideas to include lots of math learning in your children’s pretend play.

Learning math through play

NurtureStore’s Fun Math curriculum is based on the principle that children learn best when they are happy, relaxed and playing. All our math lessons are playful, hands-on activities that children love.

Of course, children can also boost their math skills during their free play time, especially if we offer a math-rich environment full of opportunities to choose math toys as part of their play.

Free play is so valuable. It lets children re-cap what they’ve been learning elsewhere, put new concepts into action, and consolidate their skills and knowledge.

Alongside activities specifically offered to help your children work on individual math skills, such as those in our Fun Math series, you can also make your children’s environment math rich, with many opportunities to use math as they play. This lets them become more and more familiar with math without any pressure.

Try these ideas to add more math to pretend play.

How to include math in play time

If you observe your children as they play, you’ll be able to see what mathematical language and concepts they are using and understanding, and what they are curious about.

Don’t dive in while they’re playing to deliver a lesson though – let them play. You can pick up on their interests at a later point, to support their self-led learning, perhaps by offering relevant materials or a related activity that extends their curiosity about numbers or shapes or measurement – scaffolding their interest in a schema, in education speak.

With a little thought and a few simple materials, you can build a math rich environment in which your child can flourish.

Here are a few ideas you can implement:

Ideas for a math rich environment for children

:: have numbers within your children’s play spaces and home. You might offer number-shaped fridge magnets, cards (you’ll find a selection in the bonus printables that you’ll receive with the Fun Math resources), plastic or wooden numbers, even ice cubes frozen from number-shaped moulds.

You can have these items available as loose parts on the toy shelf for your children to use however they want in their play.

Even if they’re not directly counting them they are becoming more and more familiar with them as they play, recognising them as numbers and learning their form.

You can also add these number items to sensory tubs, the sand pit, the water table, the bathtub – anywhere!

:: add household items such as kitchen scales, measuring cups, tape measures and clocks in your home corner / role-play area, so children can use the everyday math equipment of adult life

:: have a menu in your play café, price tags on packets when you play shops, and tickets to buy when you play trains, so numbers and counting are part of the play

:: include purses, wallets and money in your dressing up box so children can weave money into their games

:: offer cookie cutters in different shapes and sizes with play dough

:: have jigsaws and blocks available so your child can play with shapes, sizes, pattern and orientation

:: include books about math in your book box and bedtime stories. There are so many titles available for all sorts of math concepts from counting and shapes all the way through to introductions to pi. An online search or a conversation with your bookstore or librarian will help you find books to read on any subject your children is interested in. The illustrations, stories, rhymes, and cosiness of reading together all help your child learn math skills in a relaxed and enjoyable way

And keep this atmosphere of happy, relaxed play when your children move to more structured math learning too by using the play-based, hands-on lessons in our Fun Math series.