Preschoolers are prime for learning. They are excited to learn, and still find joy in little games meant to help them learn basic skills.
We have opportunities to instill a love for numbers and math into our kids at a very young age. It is never too early to start counting in front of your child or asking them math-related questions. The repetition of math and numbers is what is most important, and no matter where you go or what you do, you can be exploring the mathematical world with your child.
Here are 5 ways a parent can help their toddlers and preschoolers learn more math.
- Potty training is a great time to get your child counting higher. While the child is sitting on the potty, count with him/her. Tell them that they must stay on the potty until you get to fifty, and then start counting slowly. If you can talk the child into counting with you, even better, but this is not necessary. The basic repetition of the numbers in order will eventually stick, and the child will start counting higher and higher. Repetition is key!
- Incorporate counting into random activities. Count the number of rungs on the ladder at the park, count the number of windows at church, or count the number of people sitting around the table. Ask your child to count items for you frequently.
What happens when a child goes up two stairs, are they higher or lower than they were before? Now, what happens when they go up two more? Asking even these simple questions helps toddlers start to understand that adding means getting bigger.
Use mathematical vocabulary like add, plus, subtract, takeaway, etc. It is never too early to start using mathematical terms with little kids. Remember, kids learn to talk from observing the world around them, they can learn math the same way!
- Start doing simple addition by using your fingers. Ask them what two plus two is. Give them time to try to figure it out. As with all of these little tasks, you don’t want to jump in too early. If they provide the wrong answer, don’t tell them the answer right away, just say nope, try again.
You can scaffold this learning by holding the numbers up on your fingers and let them count what your fingers show the answer to be. Then ask them to show you on their own fingers. This is a strategy you can then ask them to use later. The next time you ask you can say “use your fingers”, and they’ll remember what you did.
Adding and subtracting may take some time before it sticks, but the repetition is invaluable, and strategies for learning are transferrable to other related activities.
- Pick tv shows that are focused on Math. Nickelodeon’s Umizoomi is a great show for kids to learn about math. ‘
Umizoomi is all about problem-solving, making things out of shapes, and figuring out patterns.
Don’t want too much screen time at home? Put a DVD in the van for long car rides, or turn it on in the evenings after dinner. With Milli’s patterns, Geo’s shape belt, and Bot’s robot computer, kiddos will be learning new things in no time.
- Let the little ones bake with you. Take the time to show kids measuring cups and teaspoons.
Don’t want extra little hands near your mixing bowl? Put them at the table with a bag of rice and a series of measuring cups and ask them to fill the measuring cup half full. Then ask them to find the ½ cup measuring cup.
Kids will not understand this at first, but as they play, and as you challenge them, they will learn what ½ looks like compared to 1 cup, and what ⅓ looks like compared to ½.
This seems minimal, but fractions are hard for kids and any early introduction of fractions can set them up for a lot of success later on!
There you have it, 5 easy ways to incorporate math into your toddler’s life, but why not try one more. If your child can already identify numbers and is starting to notice patterns, print off some math worksheets like the ones below and create a book to take with you to restaurants, on long car rides, or maybe even church. Here are some worksheets and interactive PDFs you can add to your travel kit!
What do you think? Have you done any of these strategies with your toddler? Math is all about patterns, and the earlier we can start exposing kids to patterns the better. Do you have any simple strategies that you like to use with your own kids? Let me know in the comments below!