Here I'll show you a basic Maths game that's easy to set up and can be easily simplified and extended to suit your child's needs.
Use this fun game to help with basic number recognition, number matching, counting, one-to-one correspondence, building, representation, addition, subtraction and more.
Ages- 2-6+
(M is 3.5 and currently working on teen numbers. See the bottom of the post for Handy Tips to help simplify or extend to meet your child's needs)
Materials: Empty Egg Carton, Sticker Dots, Marker, Pompom (or counter/paperclip etc), blocks(counters)
Write numbers in each space of the egg carton (we focused on teen numbers)
Write the same numbers on sticker dots
Have your child find and match the corresponding numbers. This ensures your child is familiar with all the numbers before starting the game as well as working on their matching skills, fine motor skills and number recognition.
When all the stickers are in, pop the pompom (or whatever you're using) and close the lid
And..... SHAKE! :)
Whatever the pompom lands on, have your child identify and make that number using and counting their blocks.
The number 17. Talk about the number. Look at the visual representation.
Go again!
Handy Tips:
- Simplify this activity by focusing on single numbers. You could use a half sized egg carton (the one pictured was painted by my daughter). Have your child decorate their egg carton to make it a special number shaker. If you wish, leave out the building of the visual representation of the number and just focus on the number recognition.
- Extend this activity by focusing on higher numbers or by putting in 2 pompoms (shakers) and having your child add the 2 numbers together, find the difference between the 2 numbers, subtract the lower number from the higher number, identify lower or higher, find and name a number between the 2 numbers etc.
- Mix it up by using this same method to learn letters, sight words etc.
- Instead of a pompom, something that allows children to see the number underneath still (like a paperclip) could be a good alternative.
- Listen to your child talk as they go through their
experiences. This will help you determine where they are at with their
learning, knowledge and understanding and help you to develop the activity (or
future activities) to their level and interests. If they are breezing through single numbers then consider trying teen numbers and so on.
- Ensuring that there are some numbers that your child is already familiar with will help them feel more confident about the game and allow them to experience successes during the game.
- Ensuring that there are some numbers that your child is already familiar with will help them feel more confident about the game and allow them to experience successes during the game.
Looking for more fun NUMBER activities for kids?
Happy playing,
Debs :)
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