Counting and recognising numbers in Reception Children arrive at school for the first time with a very mixed range of experiences, but by the end of their first year they should all be able to count to 10 and beyond and use the number names in familiar contexts. Number rhymes, songs, stories and counting games are just some of the activities which make counting easy and enjoyable. Children relate especially well to puppets such as a toy rabbit. The rabbit can be used to recite nursery rhymes or to match fingers to the numbers spoken, e.g. “Bunny says he has four friends. Show me four bunnies on your fingers etc. The puppet can also be used to spot recitation errors, e.g. spotting the error when the rabbit counts up; ‘one, two, three, five’ etc. Much of this early work is done orally, but there is also a time when worksheets can be very useful, such as when matching numbers to objects or counting on a number line. Our bright and colourful reception worksheets have proved immensely popular over the last four years and are a great additional resource to encourage counting and number recognition. Go to Early Reception worksheets Also if you are looking for practical ideas, don’t forget to have a peep at our ‘Practical Ideas’ pages.