Measures - Capacity - EYFS / Early Years Activities, Displays and Ideas
Sections on this page:
Free sample resource
Starting to learn about the concept of ‘Capacity’
- ‘The maximum amount something can contain.’
using solid objects
using liquids
If you are not a member already, become a ‘Free Access’ member here. This will give you access to resources within the ‘Free Sample Resources’ sections at the top of most pages and ‘Special Dates Calendars’. Some whole topics are even free! Find out more about all of our membership options here. If you are already a member… thank-you!
Free Capacity Resources
What will the bears take on their picnic?
These sheets can be used in the following ways:
Group Prompts to inspire discussion / communication and language skills and subsequent children’s art & craft work.
Printed for individual artwork use.
Laminated to be used repeatedly with whiteboard pens or as playdough mats.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
<<-BACK TO ‘TEDDY BEARS’ PICNIC’ MENU
The cards can be used as part of a small display near the water area or as a direct challenge to be used by the children when playing in the water tray.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
Please note that both Editable (docx file) and non-editable (pdf file) versions are available for ‘Measures - Capacity’ resources. (Editable files require Microsoft Word to work at optimum level and Non-Editable files require a pdf viewer.)
Click on the thumbnail images below for further details…
Solids
For example using natural loose parts such as shells/pebbles, building blocks or small world toys to demonstrate and explore capacity…
This mat is designed to engage children in thinking about size. Ideal for use after a trip to the beach.
How many shells can you fit into the rockpool? Does it matter what type of shells they are? How many big shells can you fit? How many smaller ones? Does it matter what shape the shells are?
Great for use alongside reading ‘Sharing a Shell’!
Keywords: shells, fit, capacity, size, big, bigger, biggest, small, smaller, smallest, counting, count, one to one correspondence, shape, natural, loose part, items, materials, prompt, activities, activity, mat, maths, mathematics, math, numeracy
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
<<-BACK TO ‘BEACH SCHOOL’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘AT THE SEASIDE’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR MATHS’ MENU
This mat is designed to encourage creativity whilst also engaging children in thinking about size. Ideal for use after a trip to the beach.
Who will share this shell?
Two printable sheets provided for a variety of purposes…mark making and drawing, playdough or even small world role-play!
How many creatures can share your shell? What are they each like? Do they work together to help each other?
Great for use alongside reading ‘Sharing a Shell’!
Keywords: shells, share, sharing, fit, capacity, size, big, bigger, biggest, small, smaller, smallest, counting, count, one to one correspondence, shape, natural, playdough, prompt, activities, activity, mat, maths, mathematics, math, numeracy, creative, creativity, role play
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
<<-BACK TO ‘BEACH SCHOOL’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘AT THE SEASIDE’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR MATHS’ MENU
Versatile ‘How many animals can you fit in the house?’ sheet/mat. Great for use alongside reading ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’!
Here are some ideas:
Place small world animals into the house. Practice 1:1 correspondence counting.
Laminate and use as a playdough mat. Have fun creating playdough animals.
Draw/make marks to represent animals inside the house.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
Explore size and shape with this loose parts investigation. Print both the ‘big’ and the ‘small’ egg. Describe the shapes. Perhaps extend older children by asking ‘How are they similar?’ ‘How are they different?’ With younger children focus on the vocab ‘big’ and ‘small’. Why not investigate how many e.g. duplo bricks or perhaps Easter themed objects you can fit in each and then compare the amounts? Adapt for different ages by using smaller or larger loose parts. Why not involve a tool such as tweezers in the process to develop fine motor skills? For our youngest children these templates could also be used as a stimulus to sort small and big objects…e.g a table of objects with a small and big version of each and the children place the objects next to the appropriate egg.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
Explore size and shape with this loose parts investigation. Print both the ‘big’ and the ‘small’ water drop.
Describe the shapes. Perhaps extend older children by asking ‘How are they similar?’ ‘How are they different?’ With younger children focus on the vocab ‘big’ and ‘small’.
Why not investigate how many e.g. building blocks or perhaps water themed objects you can fit in each and then compare the amounts? Adapt for different ages by using smaller or larger loose parts.
Why not involve a tool such as tweezers in the process to develop fine motor skills?
For our youngest children these templates could also be used as a stimulus to sort small and big objects…e.g a table of objects with a small and big version of each and the children place the objects next to the appropriate water drop.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
Liquids
The cards can be used as part of a small display near the water area or as a direct challenge to be used by the children when playing in the water tray.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
The cards can be used as part of a display near the water area or as a direct challenge to be used by the children when playing in the water tray.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
The cards can be used as part of a small display near the water area or as a direct challenge to be used by the children when playing in the water tray.
Keywords: EYFS, Year 1, Y1, Yr1, Measurement, Capacity and Volume
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA - WATER PLAY’ MENU
The cards can be used as part of a display near the water area or as a direct challenge to be used by the children when playing in the water tray.
Keywords: EYFS, Year 1, Y1, Yr1, Measurement, Capacity and Volume
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (Zipped JPEGs)
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA - WATER PLAY’ MENU
Inspire your children to consider the concept of capacity by displaying these posters within your setting. The posters demonstrate ‘full’, ‘empty’, ‘half-full’, ‘half-empty’ and also move onto include ‘nearly empty’ and ‘nearly full’. These posters can serve as a great stimulus for discussion and prompts during filling and emptying activities such as water/sand play and use of non standard measures such as filling containers with blocks to varying levels.
Extend discussions further for older children by challenging them to e.g. fill a container half full with building bricks. How many bricks did you need to half-fill the container? How many more do you think you will need to fill it completely? How many bricks will that be altogether? (Note that this line of questioning also involves ‘estimating’ and the concept of ‘doubling’.)
Keywords: EYFS, Year 1, Y1, Yr1, Measurement, Capacity and Volume
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA - WATER PLAY’ MENU
Encourage your child(ren) to consolidate their knowledge of these capacity terms by challenging them to cut out the words (with appropriate supervision) and stick them under the correct jug image. Alternatively you may like to laminate all of the parts and create an interactive display!
Keywords: EYFS, Year 1, Y1, Yr1, Measurement, Capacity and Volume
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA - WATER PLAY’ MENU
Encourage your child(ren) to consolidate their knowledge of these capacity terms by challenging them to colour the jugs on the sheets to the appropriate level. Alternatively you may like to use loose parts, or laminate to use with playdough or whiteboard pens!
Keywords: EYFS, Year 1, Y1, Yr1, Measurement, Capacity and Volume
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA’ MENU
<<-BACK TO ‘OUTDOOR AREA - WATER PLAY’ MENU

Ignite an exploration of size, shape, and comparison with our delightful Valentine's Day: Loose Parts Hearts (Big/Small)! These engaging printables are perfect for EYFS and KS1 children…