Mathematical Tasks for 2-5 Years Children: Creating a Mathematically Rich Environment, Play-Based Activities, and Group Learning

This article discusses how to create a mathematically rich environment for 2-5 years children, promote problem-solving skills through play-based activities, and implement group learning for numeracy development. It provides tips and strategies for teaching math to young children, including using songs, games, and drama to enhance interest, and implementing activities that build problem-solving, number sense, shapes, and spatial sense. The article also explores the benefits of group activities for learning and provides examples of group time activities that encourage numeracy concepts.

Mathematical Tasks

Table of Contents
1. Creation of Mathematically rich environment for 2 to 5 years’ age children..........................3
2. Play based activities that promote problem-solving skills among 2 to 5 years children.........4
3. Implementing group activity for 2 to 5 years numeracy learning............................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

1. Creation of Mathematically rich environment for 2 to 5 years’ age children
Meaning of Mathematically rich environment:
The mathematically rich environment is an environment which is designed and created by
the teacher in a manner that it encourages the students especially early age children to learn
about the math concept more deeply through different ways.
Ways through which teacher can create mathematically rich environment:
The various ways with the help of which a teacher can create mathematically rich
environment for the 2 to 5 years’ children are as follows:
 Incorporating songs and music in the maths class helps the early age childhood to learn
maths concept easily. The teacher should play mathematically lyrics songs to help the
students to learn maths concept while singing & dancing to the beat.
 Using block, puzzles, games as well as magnetic rubber will also help the teacher to
enhance the interest of 2 to 5 years’ children in maths class. Here, the teacher need to link
the math concept with games (Yıldırım, 2021).
 Arrange drama for children in which teacher can provide fake money to children and set
up store. This drama is one of the best way to create mathematically rich environment in
classroom.
For example, In Australia, teachers teach early year childhood with the different
mathematics concept using following activities or elements such as:
Problem Solving: Puzzles and Memory games is the activities or element should use by
the teacher to build the concept of problem solving among the 2 to 5 years’ children.
One-to-One correspondence: In order to build the one-to-one correspondence maths
concept among the early year children, teacher should include activities of counting fruits with
M, counting owls, counting bears etc. For this, the teacher need to place toys, fruits chart in the
classroom (Susanti, 2018).
Number sense: In order to build the concept of number sense among the 2 to 5 year
children, teacher should arrange playing activities for children. For example, playing with block
and counting blocks with same yellow colour, counting chips etc. This help in building a
connection to verbal counting as well as counting objects.

Shapes: The activity's teacher can arrange for the pre-school to learn shapes is pattern
block shapes, making shapes with play dough, Geoboard etc. This is one of the best way through
which teacher can increase shapes understanding among 2 to 5 years child.
Spatial sense: The spatial sense reasoning activities should implement by the teacher for
2 to 5 years children are painting (Herodotou, 2018). Here, the teacher can ask students to draw
and paint to build spatial sense understanding.
Sets & classifying: The activity's teacher can use for building the concept of
classification concept of mathematics in early year child is sorting out toys, leaves, rocks etc.
The teacher can arrange this activity in the play ground for the 2 to 5 year children to learn about
mathematical concepts in fun manner. Here, the teacher can ask student to classify the big and
small toys on the basis of their sizes.
2. Play based activities that promote problem-solving skills among 2 to 5 years children
Concept of Play based Learning:
The play based learning is a concept in which the teacher mainly uses the play games to
taught different concepts of the specific subject. This is one of the most common but more
popular ways through which the teachers can easily promote the problem-solving skills among
the early children (Cohrssen and et.al., 2017). The problem solving is main concept of the
mathematics which is easily built among the small children with the help of playing games and
help them to gain self-confidence.

Play-based activities that could promote problem solving skills:
The various play based activities that helps the mathematics teacher to promote the problem
solving skills in 2 to 5 years children are as follows:
Egg counting game (outdoor): This is one of the play-based learning activities in which
teacher can ask the children to count eggs in nest. In this, mathematics teacher should ask
students to count eggs place in nest (Edwards, 2017). For this the teacher should take children to
nearby garden or chicken cage to practice number identification. Then add the total boxes of
yellow colour with the green colour. This enhances the attention power, solving problems related
to addition and subtraction etc.
Playing memory games (indoor): This is also one of the play based learning activities in
which the students age of 2 to 5 years can learn addition via adding the images and items place in
each block. This is best for building problem solving skills.
Shape wheel (indoor): This is a play-based learning activities in which children need to
prepare a wheel, draw shapes and colour. Further, the teacher will ask the student to found out
the name of shapes in light blue colour. This build the understanding of the shapes in the child
and help them to solve the problem related to shapes.
Dice and Move game (indoor): The dice and move game is a play-based learning game
with the help of which the students able to learn maths concept as well as improve problem-
solving skills. Here, the teacher need to create a game board like below image. Then ask the

children to roll the dice and whatever number come in the dice, the children need to cover it with
the game piece (Nakawa, 2020). In case if they already cover a specific number such as six
previously, then this time they will cover the star box with the game piece.
Pouring and comparing (outdoor): This is also one of the most interesting play-based
learning activities that promote problem-solving skills such as understanding and comparing
sizes in mathematics. The pre-school or 2 to 5 years children can easily learn from this concept.
In this teacher is required to pour different size of leaves in one container and ask the students to
separate the leaves on the basis of their size either in small or big size. It is one of the fantastic
way to teach pre-preschoolers and enhance their problem-solving skills. This game will be
arranged in the play ground for the children.
3. Implementing group activity for 2 to 5 years numeracy learning
Concept of group activity:
Group activity means any organized activity in which more than two students learn
together in order to learn any concept more easily (Cohrssen and Niklas, 2019). The group
activity is an effective method to motivate children and build collaboration skills among 2 to 5
years children.
Significance of group activity in education:
 Group activity allow the early year childhood to learn from each other and quickly.
 It is important to bring change in the regular manner of learning as well as sitting of the
children. The change always lead to encourage morale of child.

 It is also significant for developing or pooling ideas of the students through other actions
and also help the students to learn from other children perspective.
 It also crucial for building strong relation and open communication among the children so
that they can help each other (Cohrssen, Tayler and Cloney, 2019).
Implementing various kinds of group time activities:
The various kinds of group activity that should implement by the teachers at pre-school
for 2 to 5 years children to encourage numeracy concepts are as follows: Reading stories: This is one of the group activities in which all children read stories that
contains number in a group so that all can listen it carefully. For example, reading stories
of the three bears in group in order to build the numeracy concept. Roll and dot the number: This is also one of the group activities in which teacher will
roll the dice and all children need to dot that specific number communicate or written by
the teacher on board. This will enhance the team working skill as well as active listening
skills of the pre-school students (Goos, Geiger and Dole, 2018).
 Music: This is the game in which a group of children will play game of listening to music
which cover the numbers. After playing the music the students need to listen when
number come in the songs and tell their teacher that specific number. This group
activities should be done by dividing the children into small groups. It Is one of the best
way to enhance the collaborative skills of company.

Strategies that can encourage group time activities effectively:
There are basically various strategies with the help of which the teachers able to
encourage the children age 2 to 5 years to take part in group activities. One of the strategy is that
the tutor should actively involve in directing the activity to the students. They also keep try
encouraging and motivating the children to take part in activity with rewards in the form of
healthy chocolates etc. Further, pairing up the friends is also one of the strategy to encourage
time activities effectively within the classroom (Goos, Geiger and Dole, 2018). This is required
to help children to learn quickly and make good relation with other students.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Cohrssen, C. and et.al., 2017. Playing with maths: Facilitating the learning in play-based
learning. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 38(1). pp.95-99.
(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/183693911303800115)
Cohrssen, C. and Niklas, F., 2019. Using mathematics games in preschool settings to support the
development of children’s numeracy skills. International Journal of Early Years
Education. 27(3). pp.322-339.
(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669760.2019.1629882?cookieSet=1)
Cohrssen, C., Tayler, C. and Cloney, D., 2019. Playing with maths: Implications for early
childhood mathematics teaching from an implementation study in Melbourne,
Australia. Education 3-13. 43(6). pp.641-652.
(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03004279.2013.848916)
Edwards, S., 2017. Play-based learning and intentional teaching: Forever different?. Australasian
Journal of Early Childhood. 42(2). pp.4-11.
(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.23965/AJEC.42.2.01)
Goos, M., Geiger, V. and Dole, S., 2018. Transforming professional practice in numeracy
teaching. In Transforming Mathematics Instruction (pp. 81-102). Springer, Cham.
(https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-04993-9_6)
Herodotou, C., 2018. Young children and tablets: A systematic review of effects on learning and
development. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 34(1). pp.1-9.
(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcal.12220)
Nakawa, N., 2020. Proposing and modifying guided play on shapes in mathematics teaching and
learning for Zambian preschool children. South African Journal of Childhood
Education, 10(1), pp.1-11.

(https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.4102/sajce.v10i1.802)
Susanti, R. D., 2018, January. Analysis of Learning Mathematics in Kindergarten. In University
of Muhammadiyah Malang's 1st International Conference of Mathematics Education
(INCOMED 2017) (pp. 137-139). Atlantis Press.
(https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/incomed-17/25893812)
Yıldırım, B., 2021. Preschool STEM activities: Preschool teachers’ preparation and views. Early
Childhood Education Journal, 49(2), pp.149-162.
(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-020-01056-2)