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Monday, May 9, 2011

5 fun ways to practice counting and number recognition

We've been working on number recognition through play lately - and Sweetpea is really learning! I'm not sure she would tell you we've been practicing, but I hope that she would tell you we've been having fun.

Here are some of the games we've been playing:

Hopscotch: good for muscle control and coordination, added a step where we say the number our rock lands on. Another option is to choose the number you're going to try and land on.

Go Fish: I found some fairy playing cards in the dollar spot at Target and Sweetpea was so excited to play with them! We played the first few weeks with an "open hand" where we could see each other's cards and talk about which cards were matching, and what numbers were on each card. We are now to the point where we don't look at each other's cards, and only occasionally will she ask me to confirm a number.

Memory: We made our own cards for this, which was a fun project I'll share soon. I love memory for practicing any number of concepts in addition to card location - colors, numbers, words, patterns, etc.



Board Games: Our favorite for practicing numbers is The LadyBug Game. Here are some things I love about it - first, the number is printed big and bold on the card, and below there are the same number of squares (or aphids, depending on the type of card) so while kids are learning to associate numbers with counting they can count if they need to. Also, there are several entertaining characters in the game- ladybugs, aphids and a praying mantis. Sweetpea wanted to learn more about them, so we did some investigating online. Now when we see ladybugs, praying mantis and aphids in the yard or garden she recognizes them and we can talk about what we learned!



Taking advantage of everyday opportunities to count and identify numbers: obviously it's possible to overdo this, but when we are looking at signs, birds, flowers, etc or reading books I encourage Sweetpea to count the number of various things and to identify numbers.



How do you practice counting and number recognition? I'd love to hear what's working for you!

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3 comments:

Jackie said...

These are great ideas. My little ones love playing memory. They also love playing chutes and ladders.

Michelle said...

Oh we adore the Ladybug Game. Ok, the wee ones do. I've actually never played it with them, but Mister Man knows exactly what happens where and how many aphids you need before moving on. I had forgotten about hopscotch though - I think I need to teach that one to the wee ones!

Anna Schafer said...

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.speech recognition program