Counting is one of those skills which gets better with practice. Toddlers can start counting pretty early if they are interested, and we have been doing counting activities since my son was two (he’s three now).
The reinforcing is important too, so counting is something preschoolers and kindergartners should practice routinely.
The only thing is that they tend to get bored with numbers at that age (or pretty much anything!), so I’m always looking for new ways to make counting interesting.
We loved doing this Orange Tree Counting Activity. Kids love anything bright and colourful, so this is a great activity to get them interested in numbers! And there’s a free printable too (link below), so you can set it up pretty easily.
The printable has tree cards from 1 to 20, but I only used the cards from 1 to 6 when we did the activity.
I cut out circles from orange craft paper to make the ‘oranges’, but you could use stickers, play dough, pom poms, or even finger paint!
I set out the cards randomly and placed the right number of oranges needed for completing them.
We first read the number on the card out loud and then glued on the oranges in the correct quantity. You don’t need to glue them on if you plan to use the cards again. You can even laminate the cards to make them last longer.
It didn’t take too long for us to complete the activity, and we’ll soon do it with the bigger numbers. Hope you have fun doing this too!
Tarana Khan is mom to a toddler, living an expat life. She loves writing and has done her stints as a copywriter, reporter and content editor, before embracing parenthood full time. She blogs at Sand In My Toes, where you can drop by to read more of her parenting and other adventures! Tarana also has a series called Busy Hands where you can find more activities and crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Google+.