Find out more about the link between maths and play

We know play is fantastic for learning as well as being enjoyable and engaging. What’s really fascinating (we think) is that sometimes researchers find connections between play and children’s learning that maybe don’t seem very obvious at first (and even they can’t always explain the connection!). 

Professor of Early Years Education at the University of Stavanger, Elin Reikeras, gathered observations of 1,088 toddlers during a three-month period, looking specifically at their maths and play skills.^[1] 

The study looked at different types of play and two play skills.  

The play skills were:  

Interaction in play 

Toddlers often play alone, or next to another child copying some of what they do – their interactions in play might involve looks, gestures, expressions and actions as well as some words.  

Independence in play 

This simply involves toddlers playing alone or alongside another child, and staying interested and involved in their play.  

The types of play were:  

Rule-based play 

Rule-based games are often difficult for toddlers, although they might be able to follow some simple rules if their playmates are flexible about the rules, and the game.  

Pretend play 

For toddlers this will often be recreating experiences, or retelling a favourite story in their play – as they get older, they might bring more imaginative and creative characters or events into their pretend play.  

Exploring and construction play 

Toddlers often explore toys and objects by picking them up, moving them around, and maybe trying different ways of using them. Building with blocks, boxes or other construction sets is all considered to be construction play.  

The research found correlations between play and maths skills 

This means, based on the measure they were using, (on average) toddlers who demonstrated more developed play skills had also mastered more maths skills.  

The strongest correlation was between the play skills and maths 

There is more research to be done as this is only one study, and toddlers were observed by multiple people which could have an impact on the judgements about their skills.  

But what it does suggest is that play and learning are connected, which means playing with your toddler and giving them time to play is an important part of supporting them to master skills.  

Reference: 

[1] Reikeras, E. (2020). ‘Relations between play skills and mathematical skills in toddlers.’ ZDM Mathematics Education, 52, 703-716.