Teaching math and literacy through play is the best way to reach Pre-K and Kindergarten students. Far too often, people falsely think that academics and play are separate entities. This is simply not true.
Academics and play are not mutually exclusive. Think of it this way: Academics are the common goals. Play is the method. Learning is the outcome. (Read that again. Let it sink in. Makes sense, right?)
Free choice play centers that are thoughtfully set up by educators include lots of opportunities for children to explore critical literacy and math skills. With that being said, it is still beneficial to have blocks in the school day that are dedicated to learning math and literacy through play, of course.
If you’re looking for a framework to follow so that you can teach math and literacy through play in your Pre-K or Kindergarten classroom, then you’ve landed in just the right place.
After digging into this blog, you will understand . . .
- how to structure your literacy and math blocks.
- how to plan and prep literacy and math exploration activities.
- how to set up and introduce literacy and math exploration activities.
- what students are doing during literacy and math exploration.
- the role of the teacher during literacy and math exploration.
When I first started teaching in a 4K classroom, I struggled to find a balance between 1) providing opportunities for my students to explore foundational math and literacy skills and 2) staying true to our play-based program.
The materials in our Play Workshop centers invited my students to explore math and literacy skills, but that did not guarantee all students would frequently choose to engage with those particular materials.
Quickly I realized the importance of zeroing in our math and literacy skills (outside of our Play Workshop time) through playful approaches to teaching and learning.
Does this sound familiar, teacher friend? Can you relate? If you’re thinking, “Umm, yes. Your story sounds just like mine!” then let’s get started.
How to Structure Math and Literacy Through Play
In our 4K classroom, we utilize a workshop approach during our literacy and math blocks. Simply put, this means we start with one or more quick whole group activities. Then, we transition to independent practice. Finally, at the end of the workshop, we gather at the carpet again for a closure activity.
When we are able to run a full workshop, it takes about 45 minutes. With that being said, following a master schedule in a public school can be tricky, so we do the best that we can timewise.
Whole Group – Lesson
There’s no end to what you can do with your students during your whole group literacy and math time. Young children enjoy singing songs, participating in fingerplays, watching quick educational videos, listening to read aloud books, playing games, and actively engaging with the focus skill or concept.
WHOLE GROUP LESSON – BOOK
During our literacy block, books are often the heart of our whole group time on the carpet. Research proves time and time again the benefits of shared reading experiences. This is especially true for read alouds that highlight vocabulary. For that reason, this is where we primarily focus our attention when we gather as a group.
WHOLE GROUP LESSON – LITERACY
With that being said, sometimes we think beyond books. We often focus on important foundational literacy skills, such as letter identification, letter sounds, the names of our students and their beginning sounds, syllables, rhyming words, etc.
WHOLE GROUP LESSON – MATH
The whole group time of our math block is the perfect opportunity to explain and model skills. For example, if our focus skill is sorting objects by attribute, whole group time is when I think aloud and model in order to show my students how to sort objects by common attributes.
Independent Practice – Math and Literacy Through Play
EXPLORATION – BOOK-BASED PLAY
When we focus on an interactive read aloud book, my 4K friends typically work on story retelling during Literacy Exploration. We set up playful invitations that encourage our students to use target vocabulary words while retelling the story. They can do this individually, in partnerships, and/or in small groups.
For example, after we read, re-read, and retold the story each day, our students chose literacy-based playful stations. Each activity connected to the story, The Three Little Pigs. In one station, students were invited to retell the story using hand puppets. Set up in another station, students were encouraged to retell the story using stick puppets and our puppet stage. In another station, our students were able to listen and watch videos of the story being read aloud. (This is a great option for kids who benefit from hearing the story extra times before feeling confident to retell. This especially includes English Language Learners.)
EXPLORATION – LITERACY THROUGH PLAY
When we are not reading a focus book, we instead work on other important foundational literacy skills. Our 4K friends engage in choice activities that allow them to extend their learning from the whole group lesson.
For example, when we practice uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and letter sounds using The Amazing Action Alphabet as a whole group, our 4K friends then break out to Literacy Exploration. The ideas are endless for this type of work! However, it is important to make the invitations playful, hands-on, and engaging. Here are some examples:
- Pull a letter manipulative out of a tissue box, name the letter and sound, then write the letter on a magic tablet.
- Grab a letter pop-it from a sensory tub full of water, then pop the bubbles while saying the letter sound.
- Play an alphabet fishing game. Say the letter name and sound after catching a fish.
- Say the letter name and/or sound while hopping on alphabet poly spots around the carpet.
- Use a letter task card as a guide to form a letter using play dough.
EXPLORATION – MATH THROUGH PLAY
Whether we are focusing on shapes, sorting, graphing, counting, identifying numbers, or anything in between during our whole group lesson, the next natural step is for students to then practice that skill.
Here again, the math-based invitations that we set up for our 4K friends are playful opportunities for active learning. For the purpose of providing some specific examples, let’s think through the lens of recognizing, duplicating, extending, and creating simple patterns. The list could go on and on, but here are a few examples:
- Create a pattern trail by lining up loose parts in a pattern along a spiral, zig-zag, or wavy line.
- Work with a partner to make a pattern using musical instruments (ie – shake the maraca, ring the bell, shake the maraca, ring the bell, etc).
- Make a pattern using body movements (ie – jump, clap, stomp, jump, clap, stomp).
- Build a pattern tower using colored foam blocks, connecting cubes, etc.
- Create patterns using mini erasers, manipulatives, and other small objects (ie – blue triangle, red trapezoid, blue triangle, red trapezoid, etc).
Whole Group – Closure
Much like the lesson at the start of Literacy or Math, the closure activity can be any number of activities. However, it is important to keep this activity quick. Any activities that support the students in being reflective of their work and learning are an especially meaningful way to wrap up the Literacy or Math block.
CLOSURE – BOOK
During those weeks when we focus on a specific interactive read aloud book, we often review the vocabulary with sign language and/or actions during our closure activity. Sometimes we highlight the retelling work that some students engaged in during exploration time. If certain students are leaders in the retelling process, we might invite them to act out a scene from the book in front of the whole class.
CLOSURE – LITERACY
If you are anything like me, maybe you overplan for your literacy lessons and you don’t have enough time for all the fun activities. When this happens, I often pull those activities we did not get to during the lesson and do them as a closure activity instead.
For example, if we are working on letter identification during the lesson, we might later pull out our mini magna doodle boards and practice writing those letters as our closure activity.
CLOSURE – MATH
Fingerplays make for excellent closure activities after Math Exploration. Think about the opportunities! There are so many classic number-related fingerplays, such as “5 Little Ducks,” “5 Green and Speckled Frogs,” “10 in the Bed,” etc.
Planning for Math and Literacy Through Play
Choosing Topics for Math and Literacy Through Play
No matter if you teach preschool, Pre-K, TK, or Kindergarten, there is always so much to cover! It can be a huge struggle to fit it all in. I totally get that, teacher friend. I’m right there with you.
In our school district, we use the WMELS (Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards) as a guide. If you happen to be familiar with this particular set of standards, then you know they are written on a continuum from birth to Grade One. So it can be tricky to know exactly what standards to focus on.
For this reason, our district-wide 4K team collaborated to develop a Literacy document and a Math document that narrows down that continuum. These are the resources that I refer to when deciding what to focus on with my 4K friends.
Your unique situation is not going to be exactly like mine. If you teach preschool or Pre-K, perhaps your administration would like you to follow your state standards. Maybe if you teach Kindergarten, your district requires that you follow the CCSS (Common Core State Standards). Perhaps your district has more specific documents. Be sure to ask!
Prepping Math and Literacy Through Play Activities
Before you go searching Pinterest or printing off all the free resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, look around your classroom first! You likely have materials right at your fingertips, even if you have to dig in the back of your closet and dust some things off.
If you have a fun activity in mind that will help your students practice a literacy or math skill through play, but you do not already have the materials, check with your colleagues. You might be surprised to find what your fellow staff members might be willing to lend (or donate) to your classroom. Our school has a basement that houses so much furniture and lots of materials. Sometimes we teachers go “shopping” down there before making any other requests.
For example, when we were reading the classic story, The Three Little Pigs, I emailed my colleagues. One of our third grade teachers had pig and wolf puppets galore that she gave to our classroom to use year after year!
Tips for Prepping with Limited Resources
Loose Parts
If teaching math and literacy through play is your goal, but you’re limited on resources, consider loose parts. According to Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky, loose parts are “natural or synthetic found, bought, or upcycled materials that children can move, manipulate, control, and change within their play.” Loose parts are an excellent addition to math and literacy exploration activities because most can be gathered for FREE!
For instance, students can build uppercase letters on alphabet cards or mats using loose parts, like acorns, stones, and corks. Here’s an example of infusing loose parts into math exploration: Students can sort beverage caps by color, then count the caps in each group. Easy peasy and it doesn’t cost you a penny!
Donations and Grants
Of course, you might want to have math and literacy exploration activities that require some donations or funding. You might have some options that don’t include your personal bank account.
Do you have access to grants? In our school district, we have an education foundation that raises money through events, like golf outings. The money that is raised through those events goes back to our classrooms! For example, when our 4K team wanted to acquire puppets that aligned with the animals from the book, The Mitten by Jan Brett, we filled out a grant application and we were approved. Woohoo! Even if you don’t think you have access to these sorts of opportunities, it doesn’t hurt to ask around your school district.
If you teach in a public school, then you are able to receive materials and more through Donors Choose. I’ve lost count of how many Donors Choose projects I’ve completed throughout my teaching years. The process for requesting materials has always been easy, but Donors Choose has made it incredibly simple as of late.
So if you want a set of alphabet robots for literacy exploration or you want counting games for math exploration, check out Donors Choose. You can even request Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards through Donors Choose! That’s right….people donate money so you can grab TPT resources without spending a penny.
Classroom, Grade Level, and School Budgets
This one is sometimes harder to do, but consider asking your administration for materials that will help your students practice math and literacy through play. If you go this route, be wise about what you request. Choose materials that are versatile. For example, you might request a set of wood lines and curves that can be used for building numbers AND letters of the alphabet.
Storing Materials for Math and Literacy Exploration
Typically I plan and prep for literacy and math exploration the week prior. After choosing and pulling out the materials, I then store them in clear containers with lids. Each activity gets its own storage container. This makes it super easy to quickly pull out and set up the math and literacy exploration stations when the time comes. Our literacy exploration containers get stacked in one group, and our math exploration containers get stacked in another group on our back counter until we need them.
Literacy and Math Exploration
How to Set Up Literacy and Math Exploration
In our 4K classroom, our literacy block is after Morning Meeting. Our amazing educational assistant sets up our literacy exploration stations while my students and I are engaged in our Morning Meeting. Remember, these activities are already organized and ready to go, so all she needs to do is pull a container off the counter and set it up at a table.
After Morning Meeting ends, our students get up and move via a GoNoodle brain break. During those few minutes, I do a quick check over the literacy through play stations and pull out our tablets (so kids can take pictures of their work and play).
Our math block is in the afternoon. I set up our math exploration activities during my prep time when my kiddos are at specialists. This way, the stations are ready to rock and roll when my students return to our classroom.
How to Introduce Literacy and Math Choices to Students
We use two different methods for introducing math and literacy through play stations to our 4K friends. The first method is the grand tour and the second approach is a photo slide deck. The reason we have two methods is because my students are in the classroom when we set up Literacy Exploration and my students are not in the classroom when I set up Math Exploration.
Here is the process we use for the grand tour. I position myself at the first station, then I invite my students to gather around. Yes, that means we have 23 or so kiddos gathered around one table. However, we are only there for a minute or so before we move on, so it works out just fine. At each station, I explain how the students can use the materials in a purposeful way and model as necessary. Then, we all move ourselves to the next station and repeat the process.
Want to make the grand tour extra fun and engaging? Sometimes I wear a train engineer hat and blow my train whistle to gather my students on a “train” as we do our grand tour. In this way, my students are focused on the fun of imagining we are a train. This playful approach decreases quarreling over who’s standing where, etc.
Since my students are with their specialist teachers when I set up our math through play stations, I have time to quickly snap photos of the activities. Then, I pull those photos up on our interactive board. When my students return from specialists, we use the photos to explain the Math Exploration activities.
What are students doing during Literacy and Math Exploration?
Math and Literacy Exploration is free choice within the parameters of the options that are set up. This means that our 4K friends are able to float between activities as they desire. In this way, our students are able to choose stations that meet their needs and interests. For example, some kids need more movement (ie – identifying letters as they hop on the alphabet poly spots). Meanwhile, other kiddos are content to sit and focus on a more idle activity (ie – finding objects that rhyme at a table).
What are teachers doing during Literacy and Math Exploration?
In our 4K classroom, we are blessed to have at least one other adult with us at all times. Our Educational Assistants support our students as they work on math and literacy through play activities. Sometimes they float around the classroom to observe and notice where support may be needed most. Other times, there might be a specific activity that requires additional adult guidance. In these cases, our Educational Assistants position themselves at those particular stations.
There are times throughout the school year when I am required to complete assessments. During these periods, I invite individual students to join me. I position myself in the classroom so I’m able to focus on the child, yet keep an eye on what is happening in the classroom.
When I am between assessment periods, I support my 4K friends on an as needed basis during Math and Literacy Exploration. I observe my students during this playful skills practice, take notes, and snap photos for documentation purposes.
There are other times when I work with small guided play groups. For example, when we focus on an interactive read aloud book, my students immediately follow-up that shared reading experience with retelling the story. The majority of our class does this independently, in partnerships, and in small groups. I invite a strategically organized group of students to join me in retelling the story using props. In this way, I am able to encourage students to use our focus vocabulary in their retelling. I can also support my students with story sequence, dialogue, problem and solution, and more.
How to Clean Up Literacy and Math Exploration
When it is almost time to clean up, I turn off 2 of our 3 overhead lights. This gives my 4K friends a cue that clean-up time is approaching. Then, I make my way to our wind chimes. This tells my students that it is time to clean up.
We don’t force kids to help clean up the literacy and math exploration materials, though most children choose to do their part. My kiddos know they need to leave the materials at their designated stations, so they stay organized. So my students simply tidy up and help put the materials in their assigned tubs.
Teacher Tip! Play a video on your board or display during the clean-up process. This will give the kids something to do when they gather at the carpet, even if you are not yet there. For example, if we are doing an interactive read aloud of the book, The Mitten, a video of someone reading the story aloud will play on our board during clean-up time. Here’s another example: if we are learning about measurement in Math, there might be a Sesame Street video of Elmo singing about measurement on the board.
Additional Resources for Math and Literacy Through Play
If you’re curious about the types of materials that we use for teaching math and literacy through play, you may be interested in checking out my Amazon store:
Literacy Through Play Materials
Math Through Play Materials
Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links to my Amazon store. This means that, I might earn a small affiliate commission, if you click through a link and finalize a purchase. There is NO extra cost to you!
Look for more? The following links will take you to related articles, podcasts, and videos. Interested in digging further into how to teach math and literacy through play? Check out these resources.
Literacy Through Play Resources
- Building Literacy Skills by Sparking Imaginations by Edutopia
- A Better Way to Learn Your ABCs by Edutopia (video)
- Play, Standards, and Literacy (with Vanessa Levin) by Not Just Cute (Amanda Morgan)
Math Through Play Resources
- Math Moments During Play by DREME for Teachers
- Center / Small Group Math Activities by DREME for Teachers
- 9 Pre-K Math Games We Love by Ashley Rives (The Lovely Preschool Teachers Podcast)
Looking for additional ways to support learning through play in your classroom? Here’s a related blog post that may interest you: How Can Pre-K And Kindergarten Teachers Support Learning Through Play?
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Math and Literacy Through Play – Conclusion
If you’ve dug into this post from top to bottom, you have a better idea on how to structure your literacy and math blocks. You grasp how to plan and prep literacy and math exploration activities. You’re ready to set up and introduce literacy and math exploration activities. You now better understand what students can do during literacy and math exploration. You’re ready to tackle your role as the lead teacher during literacy and math exploration.
You may have thoughts running through your brain in regards to implementing math and literacy through play experiences in your classroom. You don’t necessarily need to tackle all those changes at once. As the leading play advocate, Lisa Murphy, often says, “What part of this can you say YES to at this time?”
What one step forward can you take, teacher friend? Feel free to share your next step in the comments below. I can’t wait to hear about how you plan to level up the math and literacy through play experiences in your classroom!
Amazing and helpful post. Keep up the great work, friend!
Hey friend! Thank you so much for the sweet compliment. I’m thrilled to know that you find this post to be helpful! As you know, writing blog posts are a labor of love.
Excellent information, Amber! There is so much goodness here!! I appreciate all of the hard work it took. This will be helpful to so many teachers, new and old, who want to jump aboard the play train!
Ahhh, thanks so much, Holley! I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to drop some kind words here. <3