Object lessons

Children's understanding of measure will be enhanced by a range of cheap and readily available resources, for use in free play, combined with a variety of planned activities.

Resources

Settings should always make available to children:

* objects for comparing, ordering and sequencing by length, such as ribbons and tapes, hobby horses with different length necks, beads and laces for making necklaces, plastic-covered wire, rope

* objects for comparing, ordering and sequencing by volume (more informally 'size'), such as nesting dolls, cutlery and play people

* materials for comparing, ordering and sequencing by weight: a simple bucket balance and sand, water, feathers, cotton wool, stones, conkers, balloons, and containers for these materials where necessary

* materials for comparing, ordering and sequencing by capacity, such as sand, water, rice and lentils and crisped rice, and many different containers

* tools for comparing time: sand-timers, stopwatches and clocks

* plenty of interesting material for construction and model-making to stimulate children into informal comparing: 'Her one's smaller', 'This one's the same'

* stories involving sequencing, supported by props (toys or magnetic or feltboard pictures) for telling the story in the right order.

Activities

Play freely with a balance.

Provide a bucket balance and a range of objects with which to experiment, for example, a rubber ball, fir cones, acorns, small-world people, two or three stones, coins, pegs, sealed transparent containers (all the same size) with various objects inside.

Things to say

* 'That ball made the bucket go right down.'

* 'Let's see what happens if you put another stone in.'

* 'That peg didn't really make any difference at all, did it?'

* 'That stone must be heavier than those coins.'

Do a sand-timer challenge.

Use a one-minute sand-timer and explore with the children how much they can do before the sand runs through:

* 'How many jumps can you do in a minute?'

* 'Can you do the puzzle before the sand runs through?'

* 'Can you thread the beads on the lace/put the pegs in the pegboard?'

Try some body play about length and distance.

Ask children to make the greatest or shortest distance they can between:

* their hands

* a forefinger and thumb

* their nose and toes

* their mouth and a hand

* the corners of their mouth.

Things to say

* 'Dani is holding her hands really far apart.'

* 'Can anyone hold their nose and toes further apart than me?'

* 'Can you bring the corners of your mouth even closer together?'

Play 'fill the box'.

Give each child a box of the same size (matchbox for tiny things, shoe box for larger things) and a tray of objects. Alternatively, provide one huge box, large building blocks and soft toys.

Things to say

* 'I wonder if that brick will fit in your box.'

* 'That toy giraffe is just a bit too big.'

* 'You need something really small to fill that gap.'

* 'Will you get the lid to fit on your box properly?'

Play 'pack the suitcase'.

Show the children a neatly packed suitcase, ready for a holiday. Get them to guess what might be inside. Then unpack it and discuss the contents. Leave the suitcase and contents on display for the children to try to repack. Finally, show them how, if the contents are packed correctly, they will all go back in.

Things to say

* 'Will the sponge bag fit there?'

* 'What could you put in that space?'

* 'You need to fold that flat.'

Explore giant dominoes.

Invite the children to help you arrange the dominoes in a long, straight snake. (You could use all of them, or just the dominoes up to double 3 or 4). Mark the starting and finishing point. Leave the dominoes out, and play some domino games with the children. Later, remake the snake, and discuss whether it will be shorter, longer or the same.

Things to say

* 'Do you think the snake will reach to the edge of the carpet/wall?'

* 'I wonder if the snake will have got any longer since yesterday.'

* 'If we spread the dominoes out, can we make the snake longer?'