This paper outlines the practical aspects of a project aimed to offer access to numerate knowledge for preschool children by providing them with take-home numeracy kits. A Koori preschool in an urban regional area of New South Wales, Australia, was involved in the project. The centre catered for 18 four- and five-year-old children. The two main resources for the project were numeracy-related activities, and interactive adult and peer support. In the first part of the paper observational transcripts of the children playing with the kits at the preschool are analysed according to Foundation and Transition Level outcomes and indicators for number (NSW Department of School Education, 1994). The second part of the paper clarifies and synthesises key aspects of culturally-situated learning: the children's mathematical language and problem-solving; the responsiveness of the teaching strategies; and the congruence between early childhood education philosophies and national numeracy policies.
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