Number and space

Understand the idea, discover playful ways to explore it, and choose an activity that fits your child.

Understand the idea

What this topic means, how adults can support exploration, and what the evidence can—and cannot—tell us.

Explore original number and space activities. Choose an age range and a comfortable variation, using household materials or optional printables.

Put the idea into play

Explore activity previews connected to this topic. Open a card for the exact age range, purpose, materials and planned access options. Three free samples are ready to try; paid editions are being prepared. Choose by readiness and interest as well as age.

Ages 3–

A Seat for Every Guest

A friendly gathering needs a place for every picture guest. This pretend-play invitation makes early number ideas visible through a manageable tabletop scene. Children can notice who has a place, check their own choices and enjoy being the host, without needing written numerals or a counting performance. Four optional ways to play let you choose a comfortable challenge and change it together.

Ages 7–

Both Sides Fair

A small number puzzle can have more than one satisfying arrangement. Explore ways to represent an idea, compare two visible collections and explain why they belong together. Children can use the picture information to check a claim, with a partner who welcomes a reasoned revision as much as a first answer. Choose from four optional versions, with a grown-up nearby and time to explore at your own pace.

Ages 7–

Estimate Then Organize

A collection of little marks offers a friendly invitation to wonder how many. Explore an initial impression, choose a useful way to organise information and notice what checking reveals. The emphasis is on the thinking process within this task, so changing an estimate is useful rather than embarrassing. The parent guide offers four ways to join in, with room for help, a new idea or a pause.

Ages 7–

Graph a Pretend Week

A pretend week's little records can become a story told through a chart. Explore how information is organised, notice a visible pattern and distinguish an observation from a guess. This approachable data activity gives children a reason to explain what a picture record supports and what they would need to learn next. Choose from four optional versions, with a grown-up nearby and time to explore at your own pace.

Ages 7–

Map Delivery Planner

A small tabletop town needs a thoughtful delivery planner. Consider a journey, notice useful places and explain a choice to your partner. The activity gives spatial ideas and planning a clear pretend purpose, with room to revise an arrangement when a different possibility looks more interesting or manageable. The parent guide offers four ways to join in, with room for help, a new idea or a pause.

Ages 5–

Measure a Paper Creature

An imaginary creature gives measurement a playful purpose. Explore size, comparison and how a chosen unit helps you describe what you see. Children can make their thinking visible with simple paper materials, check an idea alongside a partner and decide what part of the creature deserves another look. Four flexible variations offer a gentle starting point and another possibility whenever your child wants one.

Ages 3–

Nesting Container Puzzle

Everyday containers hold an intriguing puzzle about space and fit. Explore possibilities with objects that can be handled, compared and rearranged in plain sight. The activity invites children to notice shape and size while trying a new idea, with undoing and starting again treated as useful parts of play. Four flexible variations offer a gentle starting point and another possibility whenever your child wants one.

Ages 3–

One More at the Picnic

A paper picnic creates a cosy setting for exploring small number changes. Familiar picture pieces make the choices easy to see, move and discuss with a grown-up. The activity invites children to notice what is there and check an idea directly, while keeping the shared story light and playful. Choose from four optional versions, with a grown-up nearby and time to explore at your own pace.

Ages 7–

Pack the Flat Suitcase

A little paper suitcase is ready for a thoughtful packing adventure. Explore space, shape and a plan that can change as you discover a better fit. The visible pieces give children a way to test ideas directly, with taking something out and starting again treated as useful problem-solving. Four optional ways to play let you choose a comfortable challenge and change it together.

Ages 7–

Paper Fraction Café

A pretend café brings sharing questions to the table. Explore what makes a portion fair, compare visible pieces and explain a choice using the materials as support. The activity offers a concrete way to discuss part-and-whole ideas, without making quick arithmetic or unfamiliar vocabulary the price of taking part. Four optional ways to play let you choose a comfortable challenge and change it together.

Ages 7–

Picnic Points Planner

Plan a pretend picnic with real choices to discuss. Picture information gives children a way to consider a limit, compare possibilities and explain what matters in their plan. This tabletop invitation connects early number ideas with a familiar purpose, while leaving room for a different choice rather than one perfect answer. Four optional ways to play let you choose a comfortable challenge and change it together.

Ages 7–

Plan a Pretend Afternoon

A pretend afternoon is full of inviting possibilities, but every plan needs a little room. Explore priorities, sequence and practical choices in a familiar fictional day. Children can explain what matters to them, consider a change and leave space for a break, without turning their real schedule into a performance. Try a version that suits today, with four optional approaches and a grown-up sharing the discovery.

The thinking behind the play

Practical guides and source notes connected to this topic. Research informs our design; these papers are not trials of our products.

Spatial assembly with physical materials and an app: study note

Both formats improved a related spatial-assembly measure versus usual provision.

Spatial play at home: notice shape, position and fit

Turn everyday arrangements into opportunities to compare, rotate, describe and check, with clear limits on what research proves.

Number and space

Understand the idea

Put the idea into play

The thinking behind the play

Follow your child’s next curiosity