How to Introduce Your Child to Numbers

Children are exposed to numbers on a daily basis. They see it on the clock, computer, food labels and much more. Children can be introduced and educated on numeracy from the time they are two years of age. I have come up with some fun activities you can do to teach your child about numbers.

Read books that teaches numbers. There are many fun books that you can check out from the library that incorporate numbers in the story. Some good books I would recommend are Chicken Little Counts to Ten by Margaret Friskey, One, Two, Three for Fun by Muriel Stanek and I Can Count by Lynn Grundy.

Sing counting songs. This is an easy and fun way to show your child how to count. Some songs you can sing are "Five Little Monkeys Swing On The Tree" and "One, Two Buckle My Shoe". I love these two songs because you can use your fingers as you are singing the song. You can find the words to these songs at a teacher educational store near you.

Use arts and craft to teach your child about numbers. For example, your child can make a coupon collage. Clip a whole bunch of coupons from the Sunday paper. Have your child paste the coupons on easel paper. Another art activity is number sponge painting. You can purchase number sponges at your local teacher educational store. Have your child dip the numbers in paint and stamp it on construction paper. You can talk to your child about the different numbers.

Play a number game with your child. For example, have five things of something. You can have five different fruits such as a banana, orange, apple, strawberry and mango. Review the different fruits with your child and count how many you have. Tell your child to close their eyes. When your child closes their eyes remove one of the fruits. When your child opens their eyes ask which fruit is missing. When they guess the fruit count how many fruits are left. You do this till there are no more fruits.

You can teach your child about numbers by doing a cooking activity together. For example your child can decorate a cookie using different toppings. The raisins can be the two eyes, the peanut can be the one nose and three jellybeans could be the mouth.