EYFS

Print this page

	Numbers as Labels and for Counting	Calculating	Shape, Space and Measures
Birth-11 Months	Responses to people and objects. The attention that young babies give to changes in the quantity of objects or images they see, hear or experience.	How they enjoy games when objects are shown, then hidden away.	Babies' explorations of space through their movements, for example, by rolling from back to front. How babies begin to be aware of distance, as they grasp and reach out.
8-20 Months	Preferences for particular rhymes and action songs that relate to number. The pictures of familiar things, in books, that babies recognise and point to, such as a ball or a teddy.	Babies' interest in looking for things that disappear from sight. Babies' persistence in trying to achieve something they have managed before, such as lifting the lid on a box that has previously popped open.	Instances of babies' investigation of objects and space such as looking for hidden objects or putting things in and taking them out of containers. How they hold out their arms wide to gather up a big teddy and bring hands together to pick up a small ball.
16-26 Months	Awareness of number during play, such as the number words used and when and why they use them. How children notice or choose a larger quantity.	Occasions when young children gather things together, such as collecting several books or lining up cars. Children's interest in helping when an adult sorts the fruit at snack time, for example, putting all the apples together.	Children's strategies as they select and fit shapes in a puzzle or balance blocks on one another. Children's interest in and familiarity with the shapes of everyday objects.
22-36 Months	How young children show their understanding of number labels such as 1, 2, 3. The contexts in which young children use marks and symbols. Situations that prompt children to talk about numbers. The numbers children recite spontaneously in their games. Children matching one thing with another, for example, glasses and straws. Children putting things in order of 'turn'.	The deductions children make about whether there is some juice left, or whether it is 'all gone'. Children's attempts at estimation and their efforts to check by counting. How children engage with simple counting songs and games, for example, 'Five Currant Buns'. When children begin to know about dividing things equally into two groups.	Observations made by children relating to shapes or patterns. When children begin to use some words that describe time, amount and size, for example, when children say things like "me bigger" to a smaller friend.
30-50 Months	Children knowing that different numbers have different names. Children using the names for numbers accurately. The range of numbers that children refer to, and why they use certain numbers. Children's guesses about numbers of things and their ability to check them. Accuracy in the use of ordinals (first, second, third and so on). The strategies that children use to match number and quantity, for example, using fingers or tallying by making marks.	The strategies children use that show they are working out whether a group of objects is the same or different. How children work out a solution to a simple problem by using fingers or counting aloud.	Children's skills in matching shapes and in completing puzzles. Children's recognition of shapes in the environment, for example, that a roof has a triangle at one end. Children's ideas about why something is the correct size, for example, a piece of paper to wrap a gift. How children apply their understanding of shape and space, for example, knowing they need one flat shape and one that is 'pointy'. Children's use of mathematical names for shapes, such as 'circle' and 'triangle'.
40-60+ Months	The personal numbers that children refer to, such as their age, house number, telephone number or the number of people in their family. Instances of children counting an irregular arrangement of up to ten objects. Children's methods of counting out up to six objects from a larger group, for example, when children do a jigsaw together and share out the pieces, counting to check everyone has the same number. How children begin to represent numbers using fingers, marks on paper or pictures. Children's recognition of numerals. How children use their developing understanding of maths to solve mathematical problems, for example, solving a debate about which of two piles of pebbles has more in it.	Methods children use to answer a problem they have posed, for example, "Get one more, and then we will both have two". How children find the sum of two numbers. The variety in responses when children work out a calculation. The ways children count repeated groups of the same size, for example, counting the number of socks in five pairs. How children share objects, for example, sharing eight crayons equally among four children and knowing that each child has two crayons. Children working out what remains if something is taken away.	Children's interest in and observation of shapes, such as how some are the same or different. How children match some shapes by recognising similarities and orientation, for example, Stevie looked at a rhomboid, saying, "It looks like a boat". Picking up a triangle, she says, "This one's different... it's only got three points". How children select a named shape for a particular purpose. Children's use of positional or directional clues, for example, "We had to come round the park and past the shops". Children's ordering of two items by length or height, for example, comparing the length of zips on coats: "Too long for your coat". Children's identification of a mathematical problem involving shape, space or measures and the ways they solve them. Children's use of positional language, for example, "I'm near the end of the path". Words children use to describe comparisons and measures such as 'greater', 'smaller', 'heavier' or 'lighter'.

The Early Years Foundation Stage: Setting the Standards for Learning, Development and Care for children from birth to five