in order to do so it is essential that they are exposed to texts pictures books etc for example structured play that is integrated into children s everyday interests can more easily introduce the fundamentals of written language mellgren and gustafsson even the youngest children use abstract and numerical ideas amounts shapes sizes in everyday play bjorklund and staff can use children s existing knowledge and curiosity to develop mathematical concepts methods and language amit and ginsburg in everyday activities numeracy should focus on big ideas to support mathematical competence namely numbers and operations shapes and space measurement and patterns amit and ginsburg nieer longitudinal studies on early numeracy show that a child s understanding of numbers and numeric relationships can predict later acquisition of arithmetical skills and mathematical competence aunio and niemivirta aunola et al they can tap into a child s creativity and motivate curiosity exploration sharing and problem solving unesco