First stars
for grown-ups
What's going on
The first round, and the gentlest. Rock explains each step the first time it comes. Three flashes on a night sky:
- Five, as on a dice. Kea just knows it's five. Rock sees four corners and one in the middle.
- Eight, as two squares of four. Kea sees four and four. Rock sees pairs: two, four, six, eight.
- Nine, in three rows of three. Kea says ten, then nine: three rows of three. Rock sees six on top and three underneath.
The maths: knowing small amounts on sight, doubles (4 + 4), and the start of times (three threes).
These are the pictures in the first play. On a replay each flash is a different number in the same kind of shape (a dice four or six instead of five), with the stars in new places.
What kids usually do
- Say "I just knew" for the dice five, and they're right. Up to about four or five in a familiar shape, eyes do it without counting.
- Count the nine one by one at the check, to be sure. That's a patch, not a failure.
- Say Rock's pairs were the slow way. Sometimes they are. That's worth noticing too.
At dinner
Hold up some fingers for a moment, then hide them. "How many? How did you see them?"
Then swap. How did they see yours?
The round celebrates the ways of seeing, never the speed or the right number. This card tells you what's in the sky, so you can play along.
