Chapter III – Converting Objects: First Steps into the World of Numbers
Table of Contents:
- Introduction for the Teacher
- Why Is It Worth Developing Counting Through Play?
- What Skills Do the Proposed Activities Develop?
- Activity 1: Block Number Tower
- Activity 2: Who Has How Many?
- Activity 3: Build the Number
- Activity 4: Jumping Blocks
- Activity 5: Colorful Task
- Activity 6: How Many Disappeared?
- Activity 7: Block Concert
- Activity 8: Give Me That Many
- Activity 9: Blocks in a Row
Introduction for the Teacher
The ability to count is one of the key stages in the mathematical education of preschool children. Through counting, children learn to notice quantity as a feature of the world, understand order, and build their first mathematical relationships such as more, less, and the same.
A child who can count the elements in a set takes an important step toward understanding numbers as a fixed value, independent of the type of objects or their arrangement. Thanks to these skills, preschoolers begin to build a foundation for further mathematical operations such as addition and subtraction, comparing numbers, and analyzing simple logical problems.
Why Is It Worth Developing Counting Through Play?
In preschool, learning to count should not be limited to reciting number sequences. For a child to understand what “three,” “five,” or “six” really mean, they need to see it, touch it, count it, and experience it through action. Only then do numbers gain real meaning.
That is why in this chapter we propose a set of activities using Korbo Blocks – a simple and flexible educational tool that allows for creative and active learning through hands-on experience. Colorful, easy-to-grasp blocks encourage children to manipulate, build, arrange, and most importantly, count in context.
What Skills Do the Proposed Activities Develop?
Understanding the stability of numbers (for example, 4 is always four, regardless of what is being counted),
Practical counting through action (building, moving, arranging),
The ability to answer questions such as “how many?”, “which one?”, “more/less?”,
Cooperation in a group and mathematical communication.
The activities have been designed to be easy to conduct, flexible, and adaptable both for small groups and for individual work. Each exercise also includes a suggested variant or extension.
This chapter is an invitation to joyful counting through movement, building, action, and conversation. Trust the power of concrete experience, and children will happily step into the world of mathematics.
Activity 1: Block Number Tower
Educational Objective:
The child counts the blocks while building a tower that corresponds to the indicated number. The activity develops an understanding of numbers as quantities.
Materials:
A set of gear wheels (12 wheels per child)
Number cards (from 1 to 12) optional
Activity Procedure:
The teacher shows the children a number card (for example, 4).
The children build a tower using as many blocks as the number shows.
After building the tower, the children count each block aloud: “one, two, three, four.”
Together, the group compares the heights of the towers. Is any tower taller? Shorter? If so, why?
The exercise is repeated with other numbers.
Variants:
Each child individually draws a number card with their eyes closed.
The teacher builds a tower, and the children guess how many blocks it contains, then jointly find or recognize the number that corresponds to the number of wheels in the tower.
Children work in pairs: one builds the tower, the other counts and checks.
Preparation:
Prepare number cards.
Activity 2: Who Has How Many?
Educational Objective:
The child counts their own blocks and compares the number with others. The activity develops the ability to compare sets and use terms such as more, less, and the same.
Materials:
Several Korbo blocks for each child
Bowls, plates, or boxes for separating the blocks
Activity Procedure:
Each child receives a randomly selected number of blocks (for example, 2, 3, 5, etc.).
The children count their blocks and say aloud how many they have.
The teacher asks questions such as:
“Who has the most?”
“Who has the fewest?”
“Does anyone have the same number as…?”
“Who has the most in the color…?”
“Who has four wheels / two cylinders?”The children line up in ascending or descending order according to the number of blocks they have.
Variants:
Children can draw the number of blocks themselves with their eyes closed.
Instead of comparing in pairs, children form groups according to number (for example, “everyone who has three blocks together” or “everyone who has two gear wheels,” etc.).
A child can compare their blocks with the teacher’s: “Do I have more than you?”
Activity 3: Build the Number
Educational Objective:
The child creates a construction from blocks that corresponds to the indicated number. The activity develops spatial imagination and mathematical skills.
Materials:
A set of Korbo blocks shared by all children (for example, spread out on the floor)
Number cards (optional)
Activity Procedure:
The teacher shows the children a number (for example, 5).
Each child’s task is to build any construction using exactly as many blocks as the number indicates.
The child describes what they have built: “This is a tower made of five blocks,” “I built an airplane out of three.”
The teacher encourages the children to compare their constructions in terms of size and number of blocks.
Variants:
Children build constructions in pairs, jointly choosing the number of blocks.
A child draws two numbers and builds two constructions, then compares which one is larger.
Activity 4: Jumping Blocks
Educational Objective:
The child counts objects while combining counting with movement and spatial awareness.
Materials:
A set of Korbo blocks shared by all children (for example, spread out on the floor)
Activity Procedure:
The child arranges their blocks in a line on the floor, leaving spaces between them.
The child’s task is to jump over each block, counting aloud: “one,” “two,” “three,” etc.
After completing the whole line, the child can return to the start and play another round with a different number of blocks.
Variants:
Instead of jumping, children can place a foot next to each block or touch it.
Children can arrange the blocks in different layouts (for example, a circle or a path) and count while moving along them.
The teacher can build one course together with the children. The children then take turns jumping through it, counting up to a chosen number and then starting again from “one.”
Activity 5: Colorful Task
Educational Objective:
The child counts objects belonging to one category (color) and develops observation skills and concentration.
Materials:
Korbo blocks in various colors placed in bowls, hoops, etc.
Bowls, bags, or containers for sorting
Activity Procedure:
Each child receives a bowl with mixed colored blocks.
The teacher gives an instruction: “Find and place three blue blocks in front of you.”
The child selects the correct color from the bowl and counts the chosen blocks, arranging them in a line.
Together, you check whether both the number and the color are correct.
Variants:
As a movement game: blocks are spread out on the floor, and children search for blocks and carry a specified number of a given color to their place.
Children draw cards with a color and a number (for example, “green + 4”) and complete the task according to the instruction.
Preparation:
Prepare cards with colored blocks in the appropriate shapes and numbers.
Activity 6: How Many Disappeared?
Educational Objective:
The child counts objects and develops an understanding of subtraction through concrete action.
Materials:
Korbo blocks for each child
A covering material (for example, a scarf or a sheet of paper)
Activity Procedure:
The child arranges the number of blocks indicated by the teacher in a line and counts them.
The teacher asks the children to close their eyes, walks around the group, and removes some blocks from several children.
The children open their eyes, count the remaining visible blocks, and answer the questions: “How many blocks do you have?” and “How many blocks disappeared?”
Then the answers are checked together. The children who lost blocks add the missing number of blocks.
All blocks are returned to the common pool, and a new number indicated by the teacher or one of the children is taken.
Variants:
Children work in pairs and take blocks from each other.
Instead of saying how many blocks disappeared, children can clap or jump the missing number. The rest of the group counts to guess how many blocks are missing.
Children can also indicate the missing number using a numeral.
Activity 7: Block Concert
Educational Objective:
The child counts objects through rhythmic movements and sounds, developing auditory memory and coordination.
Materials:
A set of Korbo blocks shared by all children (for example, spread out on the floor)
Activity Procedure:
Each block represents one sound or movement: tapping on the table, clapping, hitting the floor, etc.
The child places a chosen number of blocks in front of them and plays a “concert”: for each block, they make one sound. The sounds must not repeat.
Counting takes place simultaneously with the rhythm: “one,” “two,” “three,” etc.
Variants:
Groups of sounds can be introduced, for example, each block now represents an animal sound.
Instead of sounds, the child can be asked to associate each block with one movement (for example, a jump, a turn, a squat, a bend, hopping on one leg, etc.).
Pair work: one child performs the concert, the other counts and reproduces the sequence.
Activity 8: Give Me That Many
Educational Objective:
The child counts objects, follows instructions, and reinforces number words.
Materials:
A set of Korbo blocks shared by all children (for example, spread out on the floor)
Number cards (optional)
Activity Procedure:
The teacher says: “Give me three blocks.”
The child counts out and hands over exactly as many blocks as requested.
Next, the roles are switched: the teacher asks, and the children learn to give instructions to one another.
Variants:
The teacher shows a number card instead of giving a verbal instruction.
The child can give blocks in a specific color or arrangement (for example, “Give me two red ones and one yellow one”). It is then worth counting together how many blocks were requested in total.
Children can do this activity in pairs.
Activity 9: Blocks in a Row
Educational Objective:
The child counts objects in a specific order and recognizes ordinal relationships (first, second, third, etc.).
Materials:
A set of Korbo blocks shared by all children (for example, spread out on the floor)
Four platforms per child (for example, two green and two yellow)
Activity Procedure:
Each child connects four platforms together to form one path.
The children place 8 blocks on the platforms in the top horizontal row and 8 blocks in the bottom row.
The teacher asks each child questions such as:
“Which block is third in the first row?”
“What color is the fifth block in the bottom row?”
Variants:
Instead of colors, children can create patterns or arrangements (for example, wheel–cylinder–wheel…).
The task can be carried out in pairs.
A similar paired activity: one child describes the arrangement of their blocks, and the other reproduces the layout on their platform.