Some stories are very good for counting.
Some stories are good for talking about the size of things.

Most stories have events that take place in a set order. This means you can talk about time and when things happen.

Lots of old stories and fairy stories are ideal for talking about numbers and size too.
There are also many new storybooks that you can use to help with maths.

How old stories can help.

You can count the goats, one, two, three.

You can compare the sizes of the goats, the little Billy Goat Gruff, the medium sized Billy Goat Gruff, and the great big Billy Goat Gruff. Your child can draw the three different size goats.

You can stress the rhythm of how the goats trot over the bridge. They go:

The Great Big Billy Goat Gruff tosses the Troll 'up, up, up, high in the air, and the troll falls down, down, down into the river'. You can talk about how high up the Troll goes.

In some stories, the Troll goes as high as the moon. You can talk about how far down the Troll falls, and where he goes to.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff are different sizes. Their horns are different lengths. In some pictures, the Great Big Billy Goat Gruff has long, curly horns. You can talk about the shape and the length of the horns.

Tell the story the same way each time. Your child will learn to predict what comes next.

You can act out the story with your child.

You can make a bridge using the kitchen table.

You can use a clothes drier and a blanket. You can use soft toys for the troll and the goats. Make sure the 'goats' are different sizes.

The story

The shoemaker gets poorer and poorer. In time, he and his wife only have one piece of leather left.

The shoemaker leaves the leather on his work-bench over night. He says to his wife, 'That's our last piece of leather. Tomorrow we will have nothing left.'

Imagine his surprise the next day when he finds a pair of shoes. Someone has made the shoes beautifully. It is the elves.

The shoes are so good that the shoemaker sells them. He can buy twice as much leather this time. That night the elves make two pairs of shoes.

The shoemaker sells the shoes and buys twice as much leather. That night the elves make four pairs of shoes.

And so it goes on. The elves make more and more shoes, and the shoemaker and his wife get rich.

The one thing the elves want is clothes. At first they are naked.

The shoemaker and his wife sew little clothes for the elves. Everybody lives happily ever after.

The story
Mother goat has to go out and leave her seven little kids in the house all alone. She tells them not to let the wolf in while she is gone.

The wolf arrives and asks to come in. The little kids know his voice because it is deep and they will not let him in. The wolf comes again, but the little kids know his paw because it is furry and they will not let him in.

The wolf goes to the miller and buys some dough to wrap round his paw. He eats some honey to soften his voice. He goes back to the kids and pretends to be their mother. The kids let him in.

The wolf gobbles up six of the kids as quick as can be. The seventh little kid hides in the clock. The wolf is so tired he goes down the road a little way and falls asleep.

Mother goat comes back. The little kid tells her about the wolf. Together they find the wolf asleep. The mother goat cuts open the wolf. The six little kids jump out. The mother puts six heavy stones in the wolf's stomach and sews him up again.

The wolf wakes up and sets off home. He is so heavy that he falls into the river and drowns.

You can count the seven little kids. You can count the six little kids that the wolf eats. You can count the six stones that the mother goat puts into the wolf.

You can count the six little kids as they jump out of the wolf.

You can talk about the first time the wolf came, and the second time, and how he got into the house the third time.

• Counting things in their heads
  They can count the people and things in the story, which is harder than counting things you can see.

• Working things out in their heads
  They can work out how many there will be if the wolf eats another goat, or when the number doubles, or how many more stones the mother goat has to put in.

• Talking about what happens first, and what happens next
  They can hold the order of things in their heads, and use ordering words.

• Comparing big things and little things
  They can use words like 'bigger than' and 'middle sized'.