Healthy Habits and Early Maths Learning at Nursery 🥕🫛🍓

This week at Fun Box Day Nursery, our learning focused on healthy habits and early maths learning, bringing together practical life skills, physical development, and early mathematical thinking in ways that felt meaningful and fun for the children.

Healthy habits and early maths learning in action

Healthy practices 💦🫧🪥

Healthy practices were at the heart of our week. One of the children’s favourite activities involved brushing the teeth of our dinosaur friends using toothbrushes and shaving foam “toothpaste”. By combining their love of dinosaurs with oral health routines, the children were naturally engaged while learning why brushing teeth is important. Activities like this support the EYFS areas of Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development, helping children build independence and self-care skills through play 🦖🪥.

We also continued exploring the correct way to wash our hands. Using blown-up gloves, sponges, and plenty of soap, the children practised scrubbing, rinsing, and talking about germs. These sensory, hands-on experiences helped reinforce good hygiene habits while strengthening fine motor skills and coordination.

Healthy foods🍓🍠🫛

Alongside healthy practices, we spent time talking about healthy food choices. There were lots of fruit and vegetable-based activities woven throughout the week. Outdoors, the children practised cutting vegetables, learning how to hold and use cutlery safely while developing hand–eye coordination.

Our fruit and vegetable hopscotch encouraged gross motor movement, number recognition, and turn-taking — a lovely blend of Physical Development and Mathematics.

Maths learning appeared in many everyday contexts. The children weighed fruit and vegetables using scales, exploring concepts such as heavy and light, shape, quantity, and number. They compared items, counted pieces, and talked about measurements, building early mathematical language in a natural way.

When making pizzas, we discussed toppings, how many items could fit on a slice, and how many slices make a whole pizza — introducing ideas of sharing, parts, and wholes, while also talking about which foods are healthier choices 🍕.

Another popular activity involved ordering potatoes by size. The children compared, sorted, and arranged them from smallest to largest, strengthening number recognition and early problem-solving skills.

To connect healthy habits and early maths learning with technology, our older children used ICT resources such as an old laptop, landline, and mobile phones to role-play ordering healthy foods. This sparked lots of conversation about favourite fruits and vegetables, while supporting Understanding the World and developing communication and language skills 📱💬.

Exploration in the baby room

Our baby room children also enjoyed a rich week of exploration. Building on our winter topic, they investigated fish-shaped ice blocks both indoors and outdoors, feeling the cold, watching the ice melt, and exploring cause and effect.

They took part in fruit and vegetable tasting sessions and used the same foods to paint with edible paint made from Greek yoghurt and food colouring — a lovely sensory experience that supported curiosity and exploration 🎨.

The babies also explored ICT items such as laptops and phones, learning through touch, sound, and observation. These early experiences help develop understanding of the world around them in a safe, age-appropriate way.

Overall, it was a week full of meaningful learning, where healthy routines, early maths, and curiosity came together through play. 💚