Thread and Count

Children: J and H
Age: 4
Date: 19/9/2019
Pre-service Teacher: Jo

Learning Story:
As we’ve been exploring numbers this term, a learning
experience of threading the beads was set up to develop number
recognition and counting skill as well as provide opportunities to
practise their fine motor skills. H and J were sitting together and
threading beads onto pipe cleaners. J’s bracelet with 12 beads

“I am gonna make a bracelet with twelve beads.” J choose the

number 12 card and said. “I thought it was ‘twist’, but actually it’s ‘twelve’.” She further explained to
me pointing at the word “twelve” on the card. After having added on a couple of beads, she stopped
and started counting the beads with her finger pointing at one and another, “one, two, three, …,
eleven. Eleven beads! I need two more!”. When finished, J twisted the pipe cleaner and made a “heart
shape” at the closed end.

"They are the same size, but not the same colour." H made a beautiful symmetrical pattern
Said H.

H was playing it differently by the side. She threaded the number 10 card first and looked for the beads
with the same size and same shape then added them onto both sides of the card to make a
symmetrical pattern. I asked H, “Why do you pick these two beads?” “Because they are the same size.”
She replied without thinking and then added, “but not the same colour.” At this time, J had finished
her bracelet and noticed what H was doing. She started helping H to find pairs of beads that have the
same size and shape.

After the two girls completed their play, H looked at the

cards scattering on the floor for a while. "we can play the
matching game!" said she to J and me, suddenly got excited
and started to flip all the cards over, "You need to turn one
card and then another, find the same one." "I really like your
idea, H. But the problem is that we have only one card for
each number, so we can’t find two cards that match. What
can we do now?" I asked. "Then we can find one card, then
The girls were playing the "matching game"
another card next to it." “Yes, Let’s do that.”, J understood immediately, and we started to take turns
to play.
What learning occurred here?
The girls are interested in threading activity and can focus for a long time. They are both capable of
recognising the numbers and were able to count in order. J is particularly advanced in terms of literacy
skills as well as shows her early mathematical concept of addition. They combine imagination,
creativity and coordination of their fine motor skills to complete the work. Through questioning, they
develop their thinking of the properties of the materials and skills for problem-solving as well. They
enjoy playing collaboratively and are also able to work independently with persistence.

EYLF Links:
Outcome 1.2 Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of
agency
Outcome 4.1 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence,
creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
Outcome 5.1 Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes

What next?
Encouraging the girls to design patterns of different forms using various materials to explore bigger
numbers and more complex structures. Other types of numeracy game that suits their current
knowledge can also be introduced to further develop their mathematical thinking as well as problem-
solving skills.