Nursery Melting Snowmen 5 to 0: Counting Back Mat

Melting Snowmen 5 to 0: counting back mat. Five snowmen stand in the snow. The sun comes out and one melts at a time. Children swap a snowman for a puddle and count how many are left, all the way to zero. What’s included: • Teacher guide with Development Matters links. • Counting mat with a 5 to 0 number track. • 5 snowmen and 5 puddle cards. Ideas for using it: • One melts: Turn a snowman into a puddle. How many snowmen now? • Point and count: Point to the number track each time. • Zero: When all have melted, how many are left? Zero! • Fingers: Show the number left on your fingers. Linked to Development Matters (three and four-year-olds): • Say one number for each item in order: 1,2,3,4,5. • Know that the last number reached when counting a small set of objects tells you how many there are in total (‘cardinal principle’). • Link numerals and amounts: for example, showing the right number of objects to match the numeral, up to 5. • Talk about the differences between materials and changes they notice. Supplied as a ready-to-print PDF (A4 landscape). Print, laminate and reuse all year.