Lego or Duplo are great open-ended materials that can not only be used to build structures but can be used to support pretend play, numeracy and other math operations. Here, we used Duplo stick or towers for learning about seriation. Seriation means arranging items in order by size, by location, by position. In this activity we focused on arranging the sticks by length from shortest to longest and the reverse order, from longest to shortest.  

What you will need: 

-Duplo sticks of various lengths  

-a starting line (a piece of tape) 
 

Engaging with Your Child 

Hold up two sticks and ask your child, “Which of these is longer?” After your child answers lay the two sticks down on the starting line side by side and compare the two pieces. Help them to nice the difference between the two sticks, “This stick is longer than this one. Which stick is next longest? Let’s put these sticks in order from shortest to longest.” Let your child do the arranging. Wait until all of the sticks have been laid down by your child before correcting because once the sticks are laid down, it’ll be easier for your child to self-correct and notice if the arrangement of the sticks was not completed correctly. Tip: If seriation is a new concept for your child, make Duplo sticks of lengths that look obviously different to your child so it will be easier to grasp the concept. Start with just three obviously different lengths of Duplo sticks and ask him/her to arrange them.