If one is the loneliest number, what does that make zero? In early childhood math, the answer is usually—forgotten. Zero is frequently overlooked in early math activities, but children as young as one are beginning to understand the concept of zero.

A one-year-old can understand that her food is all gone, but she obviously hasn’t yet connected “all gone” to being the same as “zero pieces of food.” Let’s talk about building an understanding of zero in a way that easily connects to a child’s experiences.

Ages 1-2: When your child is eating, make a point of naming when the food is all gone. Phrases like, “There is none left,” or “You don’t have any,” reinforce the idea of zero without explicitly naming it yet.
Ages 2-3: Your child will begin to develop an understanding of quantity at this age. They will start to connect a spoken “one” to representing the quantity one and a spoken “two” to representing the quantity two. When you notice opportunities to point out the absence of a quantity, do so. Use simple language like, “Let’s count the number of strawberries on your plate together: 1, 2, 3. You have 3 strawberries. We can’t count blueberries today because you don’t have any blueberries on your plate.”
Ages 3-6: Your child understands the quantity of none (#1 above) and can understand that each quantity is represented by a unique number (#2 above). Now you blend steps 1 and 2 above. When your child has no food left, you can say, “You don’t have any. There’s a number that means none. It’s called zero.”

Once you’ve introduced the word “zero,” simply begin to incorporate it in your daily routines.

“We’re all out of blueberries. We have zero blueberries in our house.”
“You only have a blue marker and red marker. You have zero green markers.”

Here’s to showing zero some overdue love!

Don't Forget About Zero