Believe it or not, your curious toddler starts to learn math as soon as he starts to explore his environment. Identifying colors, sorting shapes, counting to ten with their fingers are some of the math skills for toddlers that you can start to cultivate very early on.
Math doesn't have to be a boring chore either. You can conveniently develop early math skills in your tot while having adventures at home or when discovering the world outside!
Here are some great tips on how to enhance math skills for toddlers!
Tips to Stimulate Math Skills for Toddlers
Note: Identify what type of learning style is most effective for your child to get best results! It is easier to get your child’s attention as well if you provide a learning system and tools they are interested in. An example would be my own mom who, knowing my love for food, used apples, oranges, sausages, (anything I loved to eat, really!) to teach me numbers and colors!
Visual Learners
1. Count items around you
Let your toddler count the steps on the staircase, the number of blue blocks she has, the cars in his toy collection, even the stars in his cereal!
2. Enjoy a number-filled trip!
As a parent, you can generally expect that your kid is able to identify numbers up to 10 before kindergarten. Nurture this skill whenever and wherever possible.
A walk in the park can be full of math lessons by allowing your child to look for numbers on store signs, streets, license plates, etc. Call them out so he gets familiar with them.
3. Dial up numbers
When calling a friend or relative, let him dial the numbers. This is a great way of enhancing math skills for toddlers as they can practice reading numbers from left to right.
4. Use visual aids
Books, charts and flashcards are amazing tools that you can use to teach your child to count and recognize colors. Look for those with bright colours and big letters/numbers so they catch your little one's eye better.
Auditory Learners
1. Dance and sing along to counting rhymes and songs!
“One little, two little, three little Indians, four little, five little, six little Indians, seven little, eight little, nine little Indians, ten little Indian boys...”
This is one of the many counting rhyme songs that you can enjoy with your kid as he learns basic addition and subtraction!
There are also lots of music apps and videos that teach math skills for toddlers!
We love: Endless Numbers - Free (iOS) (Android) (Windows)
2. Baking time!
Baking together is a simple and yummy way of introducing the concept of volume and weight to your child. Lay out measuring cups and bowls and let him assist you get ingredients, while reading the recipe out loud.
Enjoy counting the delicious cookies afterwards!
Physical Learners
1. Go on shape hunting!
You can expect your child to identify and draw shapes before he hits first grade. Easily develop this skill while you are at home.
Move around the house and let him recognise squares, circles, triangles, oblongs, hearts on his plate, toys, floor tile, etc. Basically, call out shapes with anything that you and your toddler see. F-U-N!
2. Play with shape sorters and blocks
Shape puzzles and blocks are perfect ways to introduce basic geometry while developing your toddler’s fine motor skills and spatial reasoning.
I vividly remember that my mom used a shape sorter to teach me shapes when I was still young. As a fun-loving kiddo, I would insist on inserting the triangle through the circle which would make my mom laugh and say, “Oh dear!”
Spark your kids' interest in math by using fun and colorful shape sorters and blocks, moms and dads!
3. Observe nature!
Develop your child’s problem-solving skills and abstract thinking whenever you go outside. Look for patterns in nature such as the petals of a flower, number of spots on a ladybug, fish in a pond, and many more!
We hope you and your tot love these simple yet fun and effective ways of nurturing math skills for toddlers. Be creative and use imagination to make learning math fun and easy for your kids!
Source: The National Association for the Education of Young Children
Read also: Best Techniques to Teach your Child to Read, Oxford Owl
Republished with permission from: theAsianParent Singapore