Mathematics in Preschool and Problem Solving: Visualizing Abstraction of Balance

Abstract

This article describes how children learn to distinguish variations of the concept balance when they have different kinds of experiences of feeling, making and creating balance. The focus of the study is how children in preschool develop the ability to think logically and creative by exploring balance as phenomena in everyday life. Empirical data were collected in two preschool groups with children that were 3 - 5 years old. By following the process the results show that children and teachers increased their awareness and developed an understanding of balance, its meaning and significance, through creative teaching—by playing different games, drawing, constructing and building. The results also show that creative framework in performing activities seems to enrich the collective learning process as well as using mathematical concepts to describe the abstraction of balance.