3.3y–5y12 minFree playFamily time
Have You Got Enough to Give Me Three?
A playful 'toy shop' request game that builds mathematical language to ten (enough, give me three, more/fewer) and supports your child to count out sets, compare sets, and check totals.
What you'll need
Essentials
- 10 small objects (e.g., blocks, pegs, toy cars, socks, spoons)
- two bowls/containers (shop basket + 'till' bowl)
Nice to have
- paper and pen to write/draw numerals 1–10
- a small bag (to hide objects for a quick estimate game)
Movement level: low
What you'll do
The 3-step guide, with what to look for at each step, is for signed-in parents.
What this develops
What it practices
- Selects the correct numeral to represent 1 to 5, then 1 to 10 objects.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Estimates how many objects they can see and checks by counting them.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Uses the language of ‘more’ and ‘fewer’ to compare two sets of objects.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Finds the total number of items in two groups by counting all of them.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
- “Encourage use of mathematical language, e.g. number names to ten: ‘Have you got enough to give me three?’”
- License
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Attribution
- © Crown Copyright 2012 (Development Matters in the EYFS, DfE)