understand and use less for quantity  

3 soft toys

Plastic tea set

Plastic food

1. Have a tea party.
2. Hand out the food.
3. Point out which ones have less.
4. Ask the child to take some food away from one of the toys so that it has less.

Two bowls and fruit to cut into fruit salad

1. Make fruit salad in two bowls.
2. Cut up fruit for the 2 bowls and ask "Less banana here?"
3. Can the child tell you what to put in each bowl using less?

See-through plastic cups

Materials to put in them, for example:

water

beans

sand

pegs

bricks

pens

Optional: symbol for 'less' - this can help to reinforce the concept for some children.

• Compare amounts of water in a full cup to a nearly empty cup of water say 'Look ...this is less';
• Pour dried beans into see-through plastic cups and label one 'less'. If using, hold up the symbol next to the relevant cup and say 'Look...this is less';
• Fill a plastic cup half full with coloured water or sand, and fill another one. Put the less sign next to the full see-through beaker. Say' Look... (point to the half full beaker)... make this beaker have less (water)' and indicate the full beaker.
• Hold up the symbol near the less filled beaker and repeat 'This is less'.
• Repeat using different materials e.g. bricks, pegs, pens, circles drawn on a page, shapes on a computer.

Materials, for example:

beans

sand

pegs

bricks

pens

Symbol for 'less'

2 different coloured sheets

• Put 2 coloured sheets in front of the child and put 4 objects on one of them. Ask the child to put less objects on the other coloured sheet (e.g. "put less than four objects there");
• Hold up the 'less' symbol to help label the quantities;
• Use toy scales and weigh the material (e.g. sand or play dough) - point out which is less;
• Can the child tell you what to do - can he/she see if you make a deliberate mistake?

Biscuits

Something to sprinkle on to them

Decorate biscuits and ask the child to have less decoration (or fewer sprinkles) on different biscuits.