Nursery Number 3’s Lunch: Subitising to 3 Mat

Number 3’s Lunch: number 3 only eats 3! Number 3 only eats food that comes in 3s. Children look at strawberry cards showing 1, 2 or 3 and feed Number 3 only the plates of 3. A second mat lets children make their own plate of 3. What’s included: • Teacher guide with Development Matters links. • Feeding mat with Number 3 and a not-3 space. • 8 plate cards showing 1, 2 and 3 strawberries. Ideas for using it: • Feed Number 3: Turn a card. If it shows 3, feed Number 3. If not, put it aside. • Make a plate: Roll 3 playdough strawberries for the empty plate. • Puppet voice: Number 3 says “Yum, 3!” or “That’s not 3!” Children join in. • Fix it: Give a plate of 2. What does Number 3 need? One more. Linked to Development Matters (three and four-year-olds): • Fast recognition of up to 3 objects, without having to count them individually (‘subitising’). • Link numerals and amounts: for example, showing the right number of objects to match the numeral, up to 5. • Show ‘finger numbers’ up to 5. • Use a wider range of vocabulary. Supplied as a ready-to-print PDF (A4 landscape). Print, laminate and reuse all year.