Exploring mathematics with children can be fun!
About
Numbers in Play is a practical, research-informed workshop that recognises, extends, and celebrates children’s natural mathematical thinking as it emerges through play.
Rather than viewing numeracy as a set of structured or rote skills, this workshop reframes mathematics as something children actively construct through exploration, problem-solving, language, and relationships. Educators unpack the foundational building blocks of early mathematical thinking and explore how these develop organically when environments, interactions, and experiences are intentionally designed.
The workshop supports educators to confidently integrate numeracy into everyday practice, including play, project work, inquiry, routines, and spontaneous moments. Particular attention is given to the role of language, conceptual development, schematic play, and hands-on experiences in building the foundations for mathematical mastery.
With a strong focus on inclusion, Numbers in Play supports educators to create accessible and engaging mathematical experiences for all children, including those with diverse learning dispositions, developmental profiles, or support needs. Through intentional, play-based approaches, educators nurture children’s confidence, curiosity, and sense of capability as mathematical thinkers.
Download the full workshop brochure
See workshop overviews, learning focus, and delivery options in one clear, printable PDF.
We will
Explore how young children build mathematical understanding through physical, social, and logical-mathematical experiences in everyday play and learning.
Unpack precursor mathematical concepts and what they look like in real play, projects, and inquiry-based learning.
Examine the powerful relationship between language, communication, and early numeracy, supporting children to make meaning through talk, exploration, and shared thinking.
Explore schematic play and identify the “maths within the mess” of children’s natural patterns, investigations, and play behaviours.
Consider mathematical learning through an emotional lens, using the Phoenix Cups Framework to support children’s confidence, curiosity, sense of safety, and foundations for mathematical mastery.
Participant Outcomes:
This workshop will spark a passion for embedding mathematics in your practice! By the end, you will have
- Greater confidence in recognising and embedding precursor mathematical concepts into everyday practice.
- Inspiration to design numeracy-rich environments that nurture play, curiosity and discovery.
- A deeper understanding of children’s cognitive development across logical, physical, social and mathematical domains.
- Practical strategies to embed mathematics meaningfully across projects, routines and learning experiences.
- Insight into the literacy–numeracy connection and how communication strengthens mathematical thinking.
Theoretical Underpinnings
Precursor Mathematical Concepts
Mary Hynes-Berry, Jie-Qi Chen & Barbara Abel
he foundational cognitive skills children develop before formal mathematics. These early concepts emerge naturally through play and provide the essential building blocks for later numeracy learning.
Piaget’s Constructivist Theory Jean Piaget
Children construct mathematical knowledge through active exploration, forming concepts through hands-on experiences. This directly aligns with using play as the foundation for mathematical thinking.
Schematic Play
Chris Athey
Children use repeated patterns of behaviour (schemas) to build cognitive structures. The workshop links schema play (e.g., rotation, trajectory, enveloping) with mathematical foundations.
Pedagogical Narration / Learning Stories
Margaret Carr & Wendy Lee
Observing and documenting numeracy in play deepens educator intentionality and supports rich learning conversations. This aligns directly with the workshop’s focus on helping educators recognise and articulate the mathematical thinking already present in children’s play.
National Alignments
QA1 – Educational Program and Practice (Elements 1.1.3, 1.2.1, 1.2.2): supports intentional, responsive teaching and the integration of mathematical thinking through play.
QA3 – Physical Environment (Element 3.2.1 & 3.2.2): promotes rich, inclusive environments that encourage exploration, problem solving and discovery.
QA5 – Relationships with Children (Element 5.2.1): strengthens collaborative learning, shared thinking and co-construction of knowledge through mathematical investigations
Standard 1.2 – Know learners and how they learn: deepens understanding of children's cognitive and mathematical development.
Standard 2.5- Apply knowledge and understanding of effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy and numeracy achievement.
Standard 3.3 – Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning: strengthens intentional, evidence-informed numeracy practice.
Principle 1 – Child safety and wellbeing are embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture: the workshop promotes environments where children’s ideas, questions and agency drive the learning.
Principle 3 – Children are involved in decisions affecting them: numeracy learning is co-constructed with children, ensuring their perspectives shape the learning process.
Mathematics and Numeracy
- Directly supports children’s development of number sense, patterning, spatial reasoning, measurement, comparison, and classification.
- Builds educator capability to recognise, document, and extend mathematical thinking as it emerges in play.
- Ensures numeracy is meaningful, playful, hands-on, and accessible to all children.
Language and Literacy
- Strengthens mathematical language including building strong links between communication, vocabulary and early mathematical concepts.
- Encourages children to verbalise reasoning, explain ideas, and engage in sustained shared thinking.
- Links storying, narrative, and vocabulary to foundational mathematical concepts.
Social and Emotional Learning
- Builds children’s confidence and persistence as they tackle mathematical challenges through play.
- Encourages collaborative problem-solving, negotiation, turn-taking, and shared thinking.
- Creates emotionally safe spaces where children feel secure experimenting, making mistakes, and trying new strategies.
Executive Function
- Builds working memory, planning, sequencing, and cognitive flexibility through play-based multi-step mathematical investigations.
Communication (language, literacy and numeracy)
- Strengthens children’s mathematical language by supporting vocabulary for comparison, quantity, patterning, spatial concepts, and reasoning.
- Links oral language and literacy practices to the development of early numeracy by embedding storytelling, questioning, and meaning-making into mathematical play.
Wellbeing (social, emotional and executive function)
- Builds persistence, confidence, and resilience as children explore mathematical challenges through open-ended play.
- Fosters emotionally safe environments where children feel secure experimenting with mathematical ideas and engaging in collaborative learning.
Access, Inclusion and Participation.
- Ensures all children can access numeracy learning through multiple pathways, materials, and play types tailored to diverse needs.
- Promotes inclusive practices by valuing cultural, linguistic, developmental, and experiential diversity in mathematical thinking.
- Encourages active participation by designing environments that invite exploration, questioning, constructing, sorting, and patterning for every child.
Online course option:
Prefer to engage in this training from the comfort of your own home? We get it!
That's why we created the self-paced online course, with video content and downloadable workbooks.
More on how to explore maths in the early years
Interested in how to explore maths in the early years? You can read all about it in our blog.
