Hands-on experiences help children understand foundational math concepts, such as number and shape recognition, patterning, sorting, and addition and subtraction. The activities below provide your child with valuable early exposure which will help him gain confidence for additional math skills presented in kindergarten and beyond.

Toddlers (ages 1-2)

• Take a walk with your child to look at leaves. Talk about their size, shape and where you found them. Encourage him to repeat the words back to you.
• Tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Count each of the bears, bowls, chairs and beds mentioned. If you have the book, point to each item as you count.

Beginners (ages 2-3)

• Place one cracker and a group of three crackers in front of your child. Ask him to point to one cracker. If he answers correctly, ask him to point to many crackers.
• Look through a book or magazine together. Ask him to find and point to various shapes, including squares, circles and triangles.

Intermediates (ages 3-4)

• Look through a magazine with your child. Encourage him to find and circle numbers from 1-40. Help him count how many numbers he found.
• Give your child two groups of toys or snacks. Ask him to count the total number of items.

Pre-K/Pre-K 2 (ages 4-5)

• Place five socks in front of your child. Ask him to count how many socks he sees. Take a few socks away and have him recount them. Repeat the activity by varying the number of socks you remove.
• Provide your child with two piles of small items (i.e., carrots and grapes, crayons and markers, rocks and leaves). Ask him to compare the number of items in each group. Listen for words such as more than, less than and equal to.