Statistics and Probability

These yes or no questions data collection activities are perfect for introducing early years students to chance and data concepts. There’s a differentiated range of ask-and-collect student sheets and a stack of yes or no question packs to keep you going throughout the year!

Teaching Data Collection in The Early Years

So What Does Teaching Chance & Data Look Like in The Early Years?

In the early years teaching kids about data should focus on:

1. Asking and answering yes/no questions to collect information
2. Collecting & Displaying Data from Yes or No questions
3. Interpret and answer simple questions about the data display

This means students should be able to collect information about themselves or others by asking questions that require a yes or no answer. 

Yes /No questions at the Foundation, Prep and Kindergarten year range need to be relatable to the students, for example:

“Do you have brown eyes?” “Do you have a pet?” or “Can you tie your shoelace?”

are all questions children in the early years would be familiar with.

Students at this stage are then expected to be able to show or represent the answers to the questions in a simple display like a list, a group or a picture graph; which they then need to be able to interpret by answering simple questions.

A simple way to cover all these teaching points is with “Question of the Day” activities where students answer a simple question with “Yes or No” and place their answer on a class display. The results can then be discussed during mat time later in the day. To extend this further and encourage higher-order thinking students can ask and tally their own yes or no questions in quick investigations.