Discovering the “Make 5” Concept with Our Little Vinsers

Thursday, 02/04/2026, 13:04 (GMT+7)

“Teacher, there’s 1 chick and 4 eggs. That makes 5 in the nest!” “2 chicks and 3 eggs still make 5!”

In an early numeracy lesson, our Vinsers aged 3 to 4 explored a “nest” made up of two groups: chicks and eggs. With gentle guidance from their teacher, the children answered simple questions:

“How many chicks are there?”
“How many eggs are there?”
“How many are there in total?”

As they counted, compared, and shared their thinking, the children began to notice an important idea: even though the number of chicks and eggs changes, the total always stays the same – 5.

Exploring Part–Whole Relationships

The lesson began with a nest of 5 eggs.

Once the children identified the total, they explored different ways to make 5 as the eggs “hatched” into chicks: 1 and 4, 2 and 3, 3 and 2, 4 and 1, and 5 and 0.

In each case, they returned to the same key questions: “How many chicks are there?”, “How many eggs are there?”, “How many are there in total?”. This purposeful repetition helped children understand that 5 can be made in different ways – an early introduction to part–whole relationships in mathematics.

Learning Through Movement – Turning Math into Real Experiences

Beyond observation, children actively participated through role-play.

Some children became “chicks” while others were “eggs,” all standing together in one shared “nest.” They continued counting and comparing as they played: “How many are chicks are there?”, “How many are eggs are there?”, and “How many are there in total?”.

During individual activities, each child created their own version of the “nest.”

Some chose 4 chicks and 1 egg, others 2 chicks and 3 eggs… confidently sharing: “I have 2 chicks and 3 eggs. That still makes 5!”

The key takeaway of the lesson was not simply counting to 5, but helping children understand that different combinations can make the same total.

Through these hands-on experiences, children begin to build a strong foundation in number sense and part-whole thinking, an important step in their early mathematical development.