The bucket balance asks children to figure out which side is heavier, which side is lighter, and to consider notions of “more and less.”  But perhaps more interesting to the egocentric child, is the way the bucket balance can be used to find the “same” weight.

Why is making the balance even more interesting than the exploration of more and less?  Because the young child has an innate interest in issues of fairness and equality.  They want to know how power differentials come to be and why some people seem to fit while others don’t.  They have a vested interest in why their older siblings get to stay up later than they do and why some kids seem to always push to the front of the line.  These are issues of social parity and push them to explore the concept that “fair doesn’t always mean equal.” Making things exactly the same is the ultimate test and one that is difficult  to accomplish even for adults.

As children put rocks in one of the buckets in order to get it to balance, they see how difficult it is to make it exactly even.  This is especially true when using nonstandard units such as rocks.  They work very hard testing and retesting the sides, lining up their faces with the table looking for the smallest discrepancies in the weight distribution.

Often they have to trade one heavy rock for two smaller rocks.  This challenge continues until they are satisfied that it is even and balanced.  Try this in your own classroom with rocks or seashells or twigs and see what happens.

Knowing “how many” is not an innate skill like crawling.  It takes frequent opportunities and exposures to see quantity.  This begins with a visual perception of relative amounts.  One of the best ways to encourage this kind of thinking is by providing opportunities for children to determine “More” and “Less”.  We do this through regular, everyday interactions like eating, by asking “Do you want more applesauce?” and even earlier, “Do you want more milk?”

When you observe interactions between caregivers and infants, do you see the adults put bottles back in the babies’ mouths and jiggle the bottle about, rather than asking, “Do you want more milk?”  It is irrelevant if the infant has oral language.  This is an opportunity to expose the child to the notion of quantity.  We don’t expect the infant to respond to the question. We use this language in order to work on conversational skills, to allow the infant some control over her feeding and to encourage the development of the concept of quantity. It is up to her to decide if she wants more.  Eventually, she will seal her lips together and shake her head so the caregiver cannot put the nipple back in.  She has decided that she doesn’t want more; that she is done.

Don’t begin working on counting before the young child is ready.  Keep exposing her to quantity in general and observe how she become better able to determine more and less. Think of ways to engage her in number activities that don’t involve counting but do involve number.  Keep modeling counting. Let the development of number sense unfold naturally.  It will.  I promise.