How everyday experiences build a foundation for maths and science

If we said your toddler is a scientist, you might wonder what we are talking about – or maybe you see that yourself when you watch them play. Everyday play and routines give your toddler the real experiences that will help them understand the maths and science they will learn in the future.  

Get cooking 

Realistically, cooking with your toddler probably isn’t something you’d do every day! But, when you can involve them with preparing food it gives lots of opportunities for talking about quantity, measurements, texture and change (all important parts of maths and science).  

Even if you can’t involve your toddler completely with every meal, sometimes just chatting as you prepare food will start some interesting conversations.  

Go outside 

Wherever you live, going out and chatting about what you see will encourage your toddler’s curiosity which will help them learn about the world.  

When you have time, let your toddler take the lead. They might stop to look at a crack in the pavement or a worm on the grass that you wouldn’t have noticed. (This won’t work if you need to get somewhere for a particular time, so try to pick the right moment to go for it!) 

Talk about the things your toddler seems to find interesting and use the correct names for trees, plants, birds and bugs (you might need a plant identifying app for some of them).  

Your toddler might not be able to say all the names clearly yet, but this is a great way to expand their vocabulary and their understanding.  

Time to play 

Make sure your toddler has time to play, and to make choices about what and how they play, as this will help them to be independent and also seems to help the development of executive function skills^[1] (the skills that help us think, plan and control what we do).  

When you’re playing with your toddler, give them time to explore and encourage them to make choices about what they’re going to do.  

Sometimes, watch for a little bit before you join in – you might notice something they seem to be interested in or they are starting to explore and be able to give them a bit more information, or a few extra things to play with that will help them develop their interest.  

For example, if you notice they are trying to fit all their toy animals into a box, giving them different sized boxes could keep them interested – and give you a chance to chat about the size of the boxes or experiment with how many animals fit in each!  

Although they're not wearing lab coats, toddlers are constantly learning, testing ideas and developing theories – just like scientists. Noticing these amazing moments, and letting your toddler explore as much as possible, might just bring out the inner scientist in you too!   

Reference: 

[1] Castelo, R.J., Meuwissen, A.S., Distefano, R., McClellan, M.M., Galinsky, E., Zelazo, P.D., & Carlson, S.M. (2022). Parent provision of choice is a key component of autonomy support in predicting child executive function skills. Frontiers in Psychology, 12.