Thats a dozen....discovering numbers

My children love to be out in the garden. Yesterday was a challenge as the wind was so strong my son often asked for me to hold on to him. Our garden is a work in progress and has been for a very long time and probably will be with two small children.

As the wind was blowing so much a lot of fruit was falling on the ground. Feijoa are in season at the moment and a much loved fruit by my daughter. We started collecting them just using our pockets but by the time we got to the second tree we figured out we needed to get our baskets.

So we came. Both children squealing in excitement, I don't know if it was the wind and getting pushed over or for the amount of fruit they were gathering.

My daughter said in a very excited voice

"Wow Mum there must be a dozen here" I smiled as I understand she is trying out words and understanding how big some numbers really are.

Like a few books I've read. Children really need to see the numbers in real life to try and understand the size....what is 2, 57, 138 and beyond.

So what a dozen really means in my daughters world at the moment is.... a lot!

We talked about the word and its meaning...but I think at the time the excitement of all the fruit was more important.

But to matter there is plenty of time for another dozen talk some other time.