Ages 3-5 (EYFS)

Number Sense

In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), number sense is essentially a child’s fluidity and flexibility with numbers. It’s not just about teaching children to count by rote (like reciting 1 to 10); it’s about helping them understand what those numbers actually mean, their value and how they relate to the world around them.

Think of it as the mathematical equivalent of phonics—it’s the foundational building block for all future math skills and as long as needed should be spent on this stage.

1. Counting and Cardinality

• Rote Counting: Saying numbers in the correct order (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4…).
• One-to-One Correspondence: Touching or pointing to one object at a time while saying the corresponding number name.
• Cardinality: Understanding that the last number spoken tells you how many objects are in the group altogether (e.g., counting “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” and knowing there are 5 apples, rather than just counting them again).

2. Subitising

This is a key focus in the current EYFS framework. Subitising is the ability to look at a small group of objects and instantly know how many there are without having to count them individually.

• Perceptual Subitising: Instantly recognizing small quantities (usually up to 4 or 5). For example, knowing a die shows a ‘5’ instantly.
• Conceptual Subitising: Seeing how a larger number is made of smaller parts (e.g., seeing 6 dots on a domino as a group of 3 and a group of 3).

3. Understanding Composition (The “Deep” Structure of Numbers)

Children learn that numbers are made up of smaller numbers. For example, they discover that the number 5 isn’t just “5”—it can be made of 4 and 1, or 3 and 2. This is often explored using physical objects, five-frames, and ten-frames.

4. Comparison and Relationships

Number sense involves understanding how numbers relate/compare to one another. Children learn to use language like more than, fewer than, equal to, greater, and less. They grasp that 12 is a “big” number compared to 2, but a “smaller” number than 20.