Mathematics and Young Children
This topical guide will introduce you to important books, videos, and information resources available from the EI Clearinghouse and other sources. Contact us via online form or by phone (1-877-275-3227) to request a resource listed below (or ask your local public librarian). Note that some videos may be viewed online, and journal titles will take you to the publisher’s homepage.
Table of Contents

EIC Resources
No resources have been added to this section yet. However, new resources are added frequently!
Books
This book supplies 50 play-based developmentally appropriate activities for introducing STEM. All activities include extensions, inquiry questions, and tips on how to help parents strengthen children’s learning at home.
This book offers practical strategies and useful information on math and science, learning center ideas, engaging activities, practical suggestions that are easy to implement, ideas that support the development and learning of every preschooler.
This book provides teachers with an understanding of how math can be learned through play. Some sections of the book would be suitable for parents as well.
This book includes many math activities for young children to practice and enhance their mathematical capabilities. While the main audience is teachers, parents could use this book as a resource to help their children too.

This book follows the Llama Llama concept as the character helps his mom clean and count mess he makes.
These four books introduce young readers to mathematical concepts. These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Capacity / by Henry Pluckrose (Childrens Press, 1995)
- The grapes of math: mind stretching math riddles / by Greg Tang ; illustrated by Harry Briggs (Scholastic, 2004)
- More, fewer, less / Tana Hoban (Greenwillow Books, ©1998)
- Math curse / Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (Viking, 1995)
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- How many snails?: a counting book / by Paul Giganti, Jr. ; pictures by Donald Crews (Mulberry Books, 1988)
- Each orange had 8 slices: a counting book / by Paul Giganti, Jr. ; pictures by Donald Crews (Greenwillow Books, 1992)
- Rooster’s off to see the world / Eric Carle (Aladdin Paperbacks, 1999)
- Counting crocodiles / by Judy Sierra ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand (Voyager Books, 1997)
- One duck stuck / Phyllis Root ; illustrated by Jane Chapman (Candlewick Press, 2003)
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Splash! / Ann Jonas (Greenwillow Books, ©1995)
- The mitten / a Ukrainian folktale adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2014)
- Over in the meadow / John Langstaff ; with pictures by Feodor Rojankovsky (Voyager Books/Harcourt, [1985])
- One gorilla: a counting book / Atsuko Morozumi (Square Fish, 2012)
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Ten in the bed / Penny Dale (Candlewick Press, 2007)
- Hippos go berserk! / written and illustrated by Sandra Boynton (Aladdin Paperbacks, 1996)
- 1, 2, 3 to the zoo: a counting book / by Eric Carle (PaperStar, 1998)
- Count and see / by Tana Hoban (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1972)
- One is a snail, ten is a crab: a counting by feet book / April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre ; illustrated by Randy Cecil (Candlewick Press, 2006).
These are five books that allow young readers to practice counting and perceptual learning skills. These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Mouse count / Ellen Stoll Walsh (Voyager Books/Harcourt, 1991)
- Anno’s counting book / Mitsumasa Anno (HarperCollins/ HarperTrophy, 1977)
- Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? / Bill Martin, Jr. ; pictures by Eric Carle (Henry Holt and Co., 2004)
- I went walking / written by Sue Williams ; illustrated by Julie Vivas (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1990)
- From head to toe / Eric Carle (HarperCollins/ HarperTrophy, 1999).
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Pattern / Henry Pluckrose (Childrens Press, 1995)
- Sorting / by Henry Pluckrose (Childrens Press, 1995) — Rosie’s walk / Pat Hutchins (Aladdin Paperbacks, 1986)
- Shoes shoes shoes / Ann Morris (HarperCollins, 1998)
- Lots and lots of zebra stripes: patterns in nature / written and photographed by Stephen R. Swinburne (Boyds Mill Press, 2001)
- Pattern bugs / Trudy Harris ; illustrated by Anne Canevari Green (Millbrook Press, 2001)
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Apples / by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, 2014)
- The napping house / Audrey Wood ; [illustrated by] Don Wood (Harcourt Children’s Books, [2015], c1984)
- If you give a mouse a cookie / written by Laura Numeroff ; illustrated by Felicia Bond (Laura Geringer Books, 2010)
- If you give a pig a pancake / by Laura Numeroff ; illustrated by Felicia Bond (A Laura Geringer Book, An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 1998).
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- The village of round and square houses / Ann Grifalconi (Little, Brown, 1986)
- Round is a mooncake: a book of shapes / written by Roseanne Thong ; illustrated by Grace Lin (Chronicle Books, 2000)
- Shapes, shapes, shapes / Tana Hoban (Greenwillow Books, 1986)
- Grandfather Tang’s story / Ann Tompert ; illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker (Dragonfly Books, 1997, 1990).
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Bear in a square / written by Stella Blackstone ; illustrated by Debbie Harter (Barefoot Books, 2006)
- Cubes, cones, cylinders & spheres / Tana Hoban (Greenwillow Books, 2000)
- When a line bends–a shape begins / Rhonda Gowler Greene ; illustrated by James Kaczman (Houghton Mifflin, 1997)
- Color farm / Lois Ehlert (HarperCollins, 1990)
- The greedy triangle / written by Marilyn Burns ; illustrated by Gordon Silveria (Scholastic, 2008).
These picture book collections can be mailed to patrons in the state of Illinois. There is also a selection of hands on teaching materials (manipulatives) that can be borrowed however these are not mailed to patrons and must be picked up in person.
Books include:
- Size / by Henry Pluckrose (Childrens Press, 1995)
- Length / by Henry Pluckrose (Childrens Press, 1995)
- Is it larger? Is it smaller? / by Tana Hoban (Greenwillow Books, 1985)
- Goldilocks and the three bears / retold and illustrated by Jan Brett (Putnam & Grosset Group, 1996)
- Which would you rather be? / William Steig ; pictures by Harry Bliss (Joanna Cotler Books, 2002)
- Where’s my teddy? / by Jez Alborough (Candlewick Press, 1994).
This book details activities for parents to do with their children in STEAM topics.
In this collection of articles form NAEYC’s journal Young Children, teachers of children from infancy through age 8 will learn how to help children develop, construct, use, and reflect of their mathematical understandings.
This book reflects recent developments in math education using vignettes from classrooms, activity ideas, and strategies for teaching young children about math processes and concepts. Incorporates standards and guidelines from NCTM and NAEYC.
Videos and Media
In this video, experts from Erikson Institutes’ Early Mathematics Education Project discuss approaches to creating rich, developmentally appropriate math experiences for young children.
This video explores the importance of math activities to young children’s development and learning and ways in which activities can be approached.
This video continues to explore the importance of math activities to young children’s development and learning and ways in which activities can be approached. This is the second DVD about this topic.
This StarNet video explains the five math content standards and what that looks like in a Pre-K classroom.
This StarNet video presents information about the importance of Number Sense and how young children learn about quantification.
Organizations
The DREME network strives to advance the field of early mathematics research and improve young children’s opportunities to develop math skills.
The goal of the Early Math Collaborative is to increase the quality of early math education by providing professional development for teachers, facilitators/trainers, and administrators; conducting research to generate new knowledge about approaches to teacher education, teacher development, and the most effective methods of mathematics instruction for young children; and by being a source of information on foundational mathematics – what it is, how it develops in children, and how best to teach it.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is the world’s largest mathematics education association and advocates for high-quality mathematics teaching and learning for each and every student.
Articles
No resources have been added to this section yet. However, new resources are added frequently!
Web Resources
This blog post describes the importance of block play for young children to gain hands-on experience with concepts and shapes.