3.3y–5y8 minFamily timeQuiet timeFree play
Fingers and Egg Box Totals
A practical activity using hands and simple household containers to help the child understand how groups make totals (5+5=10, 3+3=6), with counting, comparing, and combining built in.
What you'll need
Essentials
- your hands (fingers)
- 6-10 small counters (e.g., coins, buttons, pasta pieces, blocks)
Nice to have
- an empty egg box/carton OR any container with sections (e.g., ice cube tray)
- paper and pen (to jot down totals)
Movement level: false
What you'll do
The 3-step guide, with what to look for at each step, is for signed-in parents.
What this develops
- Milestonecounts up to 5Mind· 2.5y–3.3y· core· Steps 1, 2
- MilestoneRecognises written numeralsMind· 4y–5y· core· Step 3
- MilestoneRecites the counting sequenceMind· 4y–5y· core· Step 1
- MilestoneReports the counted totalMind· 4.3y–5y· core
- MilestoneCounts objects one-to-oneMind· 4y–4.5y· stretch· Steps 2, 3
What it practices
- Finds the total number of items in two groups by counting all of them.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Selects the correct numeral to represent 1 to 5, then 1 to 10 objects.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Counts an irregular arrangement of up to ten objects.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
Where it comes from
- Source
- Development Matters in the EYFS (DfE, 2012)
- Original guidance
- “Help children to understand that five fingers on each hand make a total of ten fingers altogether, or that two rows of three eggs in the box make six eggs altogether.”
- License
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Attribution
- © Crown Copyright 2012 (Development Matters in the EYFS, DfE)