Role play areas provide lots of opportunities for children to practise measuring skills, such as measuring the length of feet in a shoe shop, weighing out fruit in the supermarket and serving up portions in the cafe.
Likewise reading stories, such as 'The Three Bears', which involve measure in the storyline or illustrations is an effective way to support children's understanding of mathematical concepts - although, of course, you would not emphasise this at the expense of the story.
Comparative language is also used in traditional tales, such as 'The Three Bears' or 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.
Mathematical elements within a book can be extended by providing story props, such as the food eaten by the hungry caterpillar. These props, together with soft toys, puppets or cut-out characters from the story, give children an opportunity to retell the story in their own words as well as including measuring in their own versions of the story.
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