Beginning Beginners’ Maths

How many are under my hand?

If your child sees three sweets on the plate, and you take one away when they’ve turned around, they know one is missing. Or at least, they know they’ve lost out.

So how can we build on that to build mathematical concepts?

Well, get three sweets (or better yet, three gems or other items that don’t involve sugar). Count them together: one, two, three.

Ask them to close their eyes. Cover two with your hand. Ask, “How many are under my hand?”

If they can’t immediately tell, you go ahead and count: Count the one that’s out, “one”, then tap twice with a finger on the back of the hand that is on the table, “two, three. I wonder how many are under my hand.” Your child will guess. Then together you will look. “I covered two of them!” You can reinforce by repeating: “One, two, three, I covered two”.

Keep doing that until they’re consistently right. Then you can build up to four and to five. Don’t go beyond five and do let them have a turn.

And sometimes look a little puzzled and take a while to work out what’s under their hand.

There’s a point where they may find it boring and they may tease you so that you’ll get it wrong, by hiding one of the gems under the table or in their pocket. That’s when you know they are ready for another math game altogether.