Activities throughout the day naming the number in sets of 1 to 4 and game-like opportunties to name the number in sets only seen for 2 seconds or less help develop this fundamental numeracy concept. Simple, high-contrast items (e.g., black dots on white paper plates) focus children's attention on the number in the set.

Practice-based Research: Children who can quickly recognize numbers, taking a mental “snapshot” of them, without counting, are more able to determine the number of items in a collection, represent that number, and, later, add the numbers. 

Use the small group dynamic as a chance to assess how high and accurately each child can name the number in small sets; increase the amount for each child to discover what numbers he or she knows.