Activities for the Emergent Stage

The emergent stage is ...

“The student knows some number words but cannot count visible items. The student either does not know the correct sequence of number words or cannot coordinate the words with items.” (DENS p.8)

also defined as...

These students recognise that numbers may be used to signify quantity. They use words like smaller and bigger and same. (First Steps Mathematics) 

Here are some ways that you can teach children who are at this stage:

• tie a laminated number card to a shoelace. The child threads on the correct amount of beads
• play dough mats with number and pictures and instructions such as "make 5 red apples to go on the apple tree"
• card games which require numeral and amount matching
• dice games
• hopscotch
• counting songs
• cooking 
• pegs on a number card or number line card
• building blocks (make a tower that is 5 blocks tall)
• putting small items into egg cartons or ice cube trays (using plastic tweezers will help those pencil grip skills at the same time)
• musical instruments like drums and xylophones - count the beats
• foam or magnetic numbers
• farm animal toys - use green square pieces of fabric as "paddocks" and write a number on each paddock. Children put the right amount of animals on each paddock
• Same activity can be done with fish toys and blue circles of fabric
• placing teddy counters (any counter actually!) into 5 frames and ten frames
• car stickers - cut black strips of card for pretend roads and label each road with a number. Children stick the right amount of cars on the "road" . Possibilities are endless for this! Fairy stickers with rainbow coloured ribbons? 
• fruit kebabs sticks - skewer cut fruit or grapes 
• ants on a log - celery sticks filled with peanut butter - put 5 "ants" (sultanas!) on the peanut butter
• candles on cupcakes (either real ones or use craft sticks and playdough "cakes")
• play outside! Use leaves, sticks, gumnuts, pinecones and shells for counting! Sort, collect, make patterns. 

There are hundreds of ways to do this. Just be patient, creative and sneak in the vocabulary at every opportunity. 

Please share your favourite Emergent number ideas.