Let’s visit Numberland is your easy going, informal helper for a thorough number sense of your 3 to 6 year olds, plus a contribution to their natural overall development. All we do is putting children on track by turning a lovely story into explorative, creative play full of mathematical experiences.

This website gives you all you need to know about the Numberland concept and the relevant number sense aspects it addresses. A picture book (in 8 languages) is our communication starter and eye opener. Turn it into a tangible Numberland with optional resources such as a cutout resource. Go into detail with a Masterclass including printables to expand.

What is Let’s visit Numberland?

Research based and field proven, this happy, valuable intermediate step serves the natural interest of children in mathematics. Our Numberland translates everything children need to understand about numbers into their world of play and imagination.

Numberland is irresistible and highly engaging beloved around the globe and in any setting, because children are the same everywhere and maths knows no language barrier! Therefore Numberland is also highly integrative and schools around the globe also use it to teach language(s).

You can use it in any setting, adapt to the needs of your children as a group activity or as individual work (or both), for your continuous provision, in a bilingualism context, for SEN, inclusion, therapy.

There is no conflict with any scheme your school might follow, only synergy. You can design a maths corner as attractive as the home or the building area! Because this is where and how children learn – through creative, child led play.

No scheme, no big investment, not more but less planning and more cross-curricular effects!

Imagine, the numbers Zero to Ten have a home, just like us:
They live as happy neighbours in Numbertown in Numberland.
They invited us over and we had so much to do and talk about…

Let’s visit Numberland – and the good things happen

Despite the polarising image of maths, all children start with a natural love for it! They want to learn this language we developed to describe our world and which we use all the time.

Unfortunately, these great conditions are often crippled by too formal tuition too early in too big steps or incomplete. We avoid this! With easy going and little means but maximum outcome and joy!

This overall idea is our starting point: Just as we all have a home, the numbers zero to ten can also have a home! We can visit/build this home and play with our number friends! Yet this is only the starting point for all kinds of cross-curricular activities…

The pictures below are just examples of how you can turn a story into child relevant play, communicating crucial mathematics in a way children can relate to. You will vary according to the appropriate cognitive load for your children.

The pictures are just an example of the vast possibilities. You probably already see … the various number representations, organised/unorganised quantities, subitising, splitting numbers, ordinal aspect, number bonds, five and ten frames, shapes …? How it relates to the world around us? The language opportunities? How all children can join in, even if they do not know your language (yet)?

Numberland can help you with all these hot early childhood topics:
Number sense, Subitising, Numeracy, Shapes, Tenframes, Place holder, Partitioning … Language … Soft skills … not to forget a happy childhood full of free play!

Welcome and herzlich willkommen!

What is (special about) Let’s visit Numberland?

Let’s visit Numberland is an irresistible, child relevant idea to nurture the natural love of all children for the language of maths. It translates crucial number knowledge into the world of children and puts it into a context that matters to them, no matter how diverse they may be:

In Numberland, we do not just teach numbers and shapes. We turn abstract maths into an exciting, tangible happening! And spark children to engage in role play as well as to relate to the maths around us. In the end, maths is a language to describe our world!

This is what we do: We visit the numbers in their neighbourhood, build houses for them, plant flowers in patches, decorate the gardens with whatever we have at hand or find inside and outside… discuss, play, sing, learn new things about the world…

Thus, Let’s visit Numberland supports your children to achieve a thorough foundation of number sense – including the joy and free, imaginative role-play they need so much for their proper development.

This open, co-constructive concept started 2004 as a (peer reviewed) scientific project by pedagogue Dr. Gerhard Friedrich Germany. It showed that children could gain one entire year within only ten weeks, both in terms of maths and language, and no matter their socio-economic background. Let’s visit Numberland soon became a standard approach in Germany, including a best selling book and optional resources.
Since 2010, Numberland has been becoming an international success story in preschools world wide with happy children and teachers.
Today, the rhyming children’s picture book “My Garden is a Square” serves as an eye opener and conversation starter. It has been translated into 8 languages so far. Additional optional resources make Numberland even more accessible.

Numberland Resources and Support for you

I am committed to give you easy access to Let’s visit Numberland and have the best possible experience with less planning. My website gives you explanations, inspiration and a buffet of optional resources. Pick whatever is relevant for your children!

✓ Learn about the Numberland concept and the way it translates all relevant number sense aspects into the world of children.

✓ Start the journey with a rhyming picture book (in 8 languages) as your communication starter and eye opener.

✓ Turn it into a tangible Numberland with a cut out resource or other optional resources.

✓ Go into detail with a Masterclass including printables to expand: Mathematical background, inspiration on how to go about Numberland, self-made resources, examples from the field. Or ask for a webinar/ teacher training (online, offline).

✓ Expand with a package of colouring sheets, a numeral writing practice, wall posters with quite different number representations. This pdf-package is part of the Masterclass

✓ A free trial set includes all resources for Number One. Click here for the free trial set.

No need to invest big money or much time on top! Though you are not left alone but can pick from carefully designed books and optional resources

What schools say about Let’s visit Numberland

— Hunsley Primary School, North Ferriby, UK

On first encountering Numberland’s houses and gardens, the children’s faces said it all – you often strive for awe and wonder in Early Year settings and it clearly appeared that day. The resource was used initially to help support the children’s developing understanding of each number, 1 to 10 – their counting, their quick number recognition and their emerging deeper understanding of what each number entails – as we say, ‘the fiveness of five!’. 

Not only does Numberland develop number skills and mathematical knowledge, but it also enhances children’s imagination, fine motor, critical reasoning and communication skills – even their social skills – as they learn to share, collaborate and co-operate. We look forward to further exploring the many possibilities of Numberland with our new Reception class in September. 

— Holleyhill Primary School, Selston (UK)

The concept of Numberland is working REALLY well for us! Reasoning and maths talk is much more prominent and interest/enthusiasm and creativity in maths is much higher than previous classes. Children are becoming ‘producers’ of maths instead of ‘consumers’. Made my own resources and added some characters borrowed from another source who live in each house. LOVE IT!

— Diane Hess, PreK teacher, Texas, USA

I had no idea that it would make such a big impact on our children. I know that we are providing our children with a strong foundation through Numberland. … Parents are reporting to us that their children are telling them that they have to be at school on the Numberland days.

And, not a day goes by that one of our children doesn’t make a reference to Numberland by pointing out the number we are on and finding objects in our world with that number or doing basic math concepts in different settings throughout our day without our prompting. 

— Amy Langmead, KS1 teacher

The children absolutely love it! The idea that the children have to negotiate, reason and justify whilst relating this to numbers, is what makes it perfect for developing early, yet essential, problem-solving skills. The children are led to ‘teach’ the teacher, as it is up to them to explain why certain items are allowed in certain gardens.

This style of ‘learning and teaching’ has been proved to be the most effective. As we all know, if we get told something – a rule or a procedure – we are unlikely to retain it on a long-term basis, but if we manage to figure a rule or procedure out for ourselves, by developing links and concepts, it is more likely that we actually understand the concept, therefore it is more likely that we will retain it. This is why Numberland is absolutely perfect for teaching those early number skills.

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