Christmas Countdown Sparks Early Numeracy Magic

There’s something wonderfully festive happening in Reception at Truro School Pre-Prep, as our young learners have been busy strengthening their mathematical understanding through a delightful Christmas Countdown activity, cleverly woven into their daily routine.

At Truro School Pre-Prep, maths is taught by fully qualified teachers from Nursery upwards, ensuring that every child begins their learning journey with expert guidance and a carefully balanced curriculum. This strong foundation nurtures early numeracy, builds confidence, and, most importantly, makes maths fun.

Throughout December, Reception have been using their Christmas Countdown to explore number facts and place value. Each day on the calendar has its own counter: blue counters count down the days until the Christmas holidays, and red counters represent the days left until Father Christmas arrives.

The children remove one blue counter each morning and then transfer all the counters onto ten frames. Together, they work out how many full ten frames there are, and how many extra counters sit in the next one. This helps them recognise totals without counting each counter individually, a powerful early maths skill.

For example, when the children spot two full ten frames and four counters on the next frame, they can proudly say, “That’s 24!” They are beginning to see numbers as groups and patterns, not just items to be counted one by one.

As the countdown continues, the class enjoy lively discussions about how many, one less and one more and what this means to us all, stepping closer to Christmas. All of this supports their growing mathematical fluency: subitising, instant recall, problem solving, and meaningful connections to the world around them.

Each day, the children write two numbers:
• the number of days until the Christmas holiday, and
• the number of days until Father Christmas comes to our homes.

It’s a joyful blend of festive excitement and mathematical learning and is proof that at Truro School Pre-Prep, even the magic of Christmas can become an opportunity to learn, explore, and grow.