Subitising refers to “the ability to identify the number of objects in a set without counting and when there is no special arrangement such as not in a dice pattern” (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2009). For example, children are able to say the number of sweets on a picture from the moment they look at it. One of the examples of activity that can be carried out for subitising is the Egg Puzzle game.
Egg Puzzle game offers children the opportunity to learn about subitising through matching corresponding dots to form a complete picture of an egg character (Llyod, 2009). This game offers varieties of skills to be developed by children such as social skill and thinking skill. This game can be played in a small group of children where everyone takes turn rolling a die and matches the dots or it can also be played alone. To make it more interesting and challenging to children, a numbered die can be used instead of a dot one.
Other examples of subitising materials to be used by teachers as recommended by Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2009) are:
There are two types of subitising:
Perceptual subitising
- No mathematics involved
- Uses mechanisms similar to those used by animals
- Involves identifying/isolating a unit for “counting”
purposes –excludes other sensory information
Conceptual subitising
- Recognises Pattern
- Can generalise to a range of spatial patterns
e.g. dominoes; fingers
- And rhythms
- Combines these awarenesses to
construct totals (Clements, 1999)
