Find resources / Activities / Counting – Tatau Activity

Counting is a chance for tamariki to:

• get interested in counting things in their daily lives
• enjoy learning and singing rhymes and songs that reinforce counting skills in a fun way
• start to remember the order of number words used in counting, through repetition
• learn to count in the language of their whānau.

• Include counting in everyday ways. ‘Two’ is a good place to start as we have many examples just on our body alone — eyes, ears, arms, hands and feet — and also in clothing — socks, jandals, gloves, gumboots and shoes.
• Count the steps together as you go up and down the stairs.
• Talk about the food on your plate: two pieces of toast, three carrot sticks and one sausage.
• Use counting as a way to get ready: ‘One, two, three, jump!’
• Count when setting the table: ‘One plate for me, one for Dad and one for Mummy.’
• Count when pretend playing: ‘A chair for me and a chair for Ted. Do you want two biscuits, Teddy?’
• Count cars when you’re out and about.
• Keep the counting fun and don’t worry if your tamaiti makes mistakes. Practice makes progress.
• Sing songs like ‘The three little kittens’, ‘Tahi, rua, toru, whā’ and ‘Six little ducks’, or counting rhymes such as ‘Two little dicky birds’ and ‘One, two, buckle my shoe’.
• Read picture books like ‘The three little pigs’, ‘The wolf and the seven little kids’, ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’ and ‘Ten in the bed’.
• Count out loud and point to the pictures in the book as you count them.