We used four different tasks:

Traffic queue task (ordinal position): Adapted based on Colomé and Noël (2012). Six toy cars were placed, extending from right to left, in front of a toy traffic light (Figure 1). In our study, children were asked which car was first, second, fourth and sixth in the queue. The researcher placed blank sticky labels below the cars and invited the child to make a note on the label showing the position of the car in the line.

Snap game task (quantity): The child and the researcher played one or two rounds of a Snap game. Children were invited to count cards at various points in the game and make a note of the quantity of cards on a pre-prepared proforma.

House numbering task (numerals as identifiers/ordinal position): Children were presented with a printed image of a row of three houses and were invited to add any number they wanted to each house.

T-shirt design (numeral as label/identifier): Children were presented with a printed image of a white t-shirt and were invited to design it with the following scenario: ‘Imagine that your nursery/preschool is going to organise a sports day. If you could design your own t-shirt, which number would you put on? Would you like to write this number on this t-shirt?’