Help your child learn early math skills by building on their natural curiosity and having fun together! Here are our 10 favorite counting activities from Zero to Three that you can do at home with children. (Note: While most of these tips are designed for older children—ages 2–3—younger children can be exposed to stories and songs using repetition, rhymes, and numbers.)
1. Shape up.
Play with shape-sorters. Talk with your child about each shape—count the sides, describe the colors. Make your own shapes by cutting large shapes out of colored construction paper. Ask your child to “hop on the circle” or “jump on the red shape.”
2. Count and sort.
Gather a basket of small toys, shells, pebbles, or buttons. Count them with your child. Sort them based on size, color, or what they do (e.g., all the cars in one pile, all the animals in another).
3. Place the call.
With your 3-year-old, begin teaching her the address and phone number of your home. Talk with your child about how each house has a number, and how their house or apartment is one of a series, each with its own number.
4. You’re cookin’ now!
Even young children can help fill, stir, and pour. Through these activities, children learn, quite naturally, to count, measure, add, and estimate.
5. Walk it off.
Taking a walk gives children many opportunities to compare (which stone is bigger?), assess (how many acorns did we find?), note similarities and differences (does the duck have fur like the bunny does?), and categorize (see if you can find some red leaves). You can also talk about size (by taking big and little steps), estimate distance (is the park close to our house or far away?), and practice counting (let’s count how many steps until we get to the corner).
6. Picture time.
Use an hourglass, stopwatch, or timer to time short (1–3 minute) activities. This helps children develop a sense of time and to understand that some things take longer than others.
7. Read and sing your numbers.
Sing songs that rhyme, repeat, or have numbers in them. Songs reinforce patterns (which is a math skill as well). They also are fun ways to practice language and foster social skills like cooperation.
8. Start today.
Use a calendar to talk about the date, the day of the week, and the weather. Calendars reinforce counting, sequences, and patterns. Build logical thinking skills by talking about cold weather and asking your child: What do we wear when it’s cold? This encourages your child to make the link between cold weather and warm clothing.
9. Pass it around.
Ask for your child’s help in distributing items like snacks or in laying napkins out on the dinner table. Help him give one cracker to each child. This helps children understand one-to-one correspondence. When you are distributing items, emphasize the number concept: “One for you, one for me, one for Daddy.” Or “We are putting on our shoes: One, two.”
10. Pattern play.
Have fun with patterns by letting children arrange dry macaroni, chunky beads, different types of dry cereal, or pieces of paper in different patterns or designs. Supervise your child carefully during this activity to prevent choking and put away all items when you are done.
Happy counting!