Teaching Number Concepts to Young Children
Fun Ways to Teach Number Recognition and Rote Counting at Home
Jun 22, 2009
Children begin to recognize numbers soon after they begin to walk. By the age of three, a child can hold up the correct amount of fingers to indicate his or her age. Before a child goes to Kindergarten he or she should recognize numbers up to ten and and rote count up to twenty. By planning fun-filled activities three times a week lasting fifteen minutes can make all the difference for a young learner.
Here are some activities to help teach number skills at home:
Play Hopscotch
Make a hopscotch court outside with chalk. Write the numbers one through ten on the court. A player has to say the number as he or she hops on each number making sure not to step on the square covered by a stone or beanbag.
Singing Number Songs/ Finger Plays
Parents should sing as many number songs with their children throughout the day. Singing songs such as “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”, “This Old Man”, “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep”, “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” can be fun for the whole family.
Fruit Loop Necklaces
These necklaces are simple to make and keep children busy for a long time. Simply use Fruit Loops and string the cereal together to make a necklace. Sort cereal into groups and place ten of one colour on the necklace following with ten of another colour.
Read Counting Books Together
There are many children's counting books to choose from. An article by Elizabeth Yetter from suite101.com gives parents many titles of counting books that are worth reading. Also, parents can visit their local library and ask the librarian what titles he or she would suggest.
Play Games With a Deck of Cards
There are many ways for parents to use a deck of cards to promote number recognition. Here are a few ideas:
- Play the card game Go Fish.
- Use the cards as flash cards up to ten.
- Print number words on index cards and play the game of match the number word to the number card.
- Play Memory with all the cards one through ten.
Number Work Sheets
Forming numbers correctly is an essential skill children need to posses before entering Kindergarten. In Kindergarten, a child will commonly reverse numbers while printing. When a child continues to reverse numbers a parent should routinely ask if the number “looks right”. As the child practises printing numbers an improvement will be noticed.
Rote Counting
Children should practise rote counting up to twenty daily. Once this skill is mastered, a child can practice counting backwards to zero. Here are some ways to incorporate rote counting into daily activities:
- Give children to the count of ten to clean up their toys.
- Have a "Getting Dressed" contest counting to twenty.
- Play "Blast Off" count backwards from ten to zero then bounce up in the air when zero said.
Children need to have basic number skills before entering Kindergarten. Playing games like Go Fish, reading counting books and singing songs are all wonderful ways to teach numbers. Parents who spend fifteen minutes three times a week will help their child have a successful start to Kindergarten.
