At Water Babies, we believe learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom, it happens through play, movement and everyday experiences.
That’s why we’re proud to be celebrating National Numeracy Day, in partnership with MathsWorldUK, with themed lessons designed to help little ones build confidence with numbers from the very start.
What are numeracy skills in early years?
Numeracy is so much more than counting. Before children learn formal maths, they begin to understand the world through everyday concepts like more and less, size, shape and patterns.
These early numeracy skills are developed through play and interaction, and include:
- Recognising “more” vs “less”
- Sorting and matching
- Understanding size and position (big/small, in/out)
- Spotting patterns
- Beginning to count and match objects
These foundations help children build problem-solving skills, confidence and a sense of how the world works, all before they even realise they’re learning.
How Water Babies lessons support numeracy
If you’re swimming with us, you’ll know learning is built into every splash. Through songs, movement and games, little ones naturally explore:
- Counting through repetition
- Comparison (big/small, near/far, in/out)
- Patterns and sequences
- Spatial awareness
Research has shown that little ones who attend swimming lessons are likely to be 6 months ahead in mathematics reasoning.
But what does supporting their cognitive development actually look like in a lesson?
Real examples from our lessons
During Numeracy Week, we bring mathematics to life through simple, playful activities:
- Singing rhymes like “Water Babies sitting on the wall”, or basic counting like “1, 2, 3” while little ones move between teacher and carer, building early counting skills.
- Playing treasure hunts, where swimmers collect balls, fish or flippers and then count them back into the bag together.
- Exploring size and comparison, by finding “big” and “small” objects or deciding which splash is bigger.
- Games involving copying actions, where children follow movements and count along as they go.
We also use familiar nursery-style songs like:
- Five little speckled frogs
- Five little ducks
- 3 in the bed
These help reinforce counting, rhythm and sequencing in a way that feels fun and familiar, so little ones build confidence with numbers, without even realising they’re learning.
Building Resilience in Learning
That’s how we support learning in the pool, but how you can you support them out of the water? The most important part of learning anything is resilience. Here are some simple ways you can build your child’s resilience from Katie Chilcot, CEO of MathsWorldUK:
- Encourage them to try things again and again and model that behaviour yourself. Your child learns more by copying you than listening to you.
- If your child says they can’t do something, tell them maybe they can’t YET, but they can do it with practice.
- Praise their efforts more than the end result. They can’t always repeat success, but they can repeat the effort.
Making the most of National Numeracy Day
National Numeracy Day is a great reminder that maths is everywhere; from bath time to playtime to swimming lessons.
And the best part? These skills develop naturally through playful experiences.
Want to keep the learning going at home?
By using familiar Water Babies characters and play patterns at home, children can continue practising some of the skills they’ve already experienced in the pool, helping learning feel more natural and easier to build on.
Explore our simple toy ideas in our online shop blog.
