This week, Nursery and Preschool engaged in an exciting, large-scale game of "Hungry Hippos" to support their mathematical development. The activity was adapted to meet different learning focuses, allowing all children to explore concepts of quantity and comparison through active play.

Exploring Full and Empty For some children, the focus was on the concepts of "full" and "empty." As they moved around the classroom to collect the scattered balls, they closely observed how their baskets changed. They practiced identifying when their basket was "empty" at the start and the satisfying moment it became "full" once all the balls were gathered.

Comparison and Equal Quantities Other children used the game to develop their understanding of comparison. Working in teams, they aimed to collect the "same" number of balls in each basket. This required great focus and teamwork as they counted their hauls and compared them to the other team's basket to see if the quantities were "equal" or "different."

Matching and Sorting To add an extra challenge, some children focused on the properties of the balls as well as the quantity. They worked to ensure that both baskets were "identical" by matching the colors of the balls they collected. This encouraged high-level observation and sorting skills, as they had to find the exact color matches to make their sets the same.

This energetic activity successfully combined physical movement with key mathematical language, helping the children visualize and describe the groups they were creating.