The little ones are at that age where they start to speak in proper sentences and parents are at that stage where we panic about whether their child is school-ready. Parents try to teach them how to read, write, count and about shapes and colors but these toddlers just want to play! While we know from research studies that play is essential for kids to grow and develop, parents can’t help but feel anxious about getting them ready for kindergarten.
Preschoolers have an attention span of approximately five to 10 minutes. It’s almost impossible to teach them how to recognize numbers and count before they start to run around again, unless it’s through an engaging activity. Don’t worry, parents, Dearest is here to help! Here are four fun and engaging ways to teach numeracy—literacy for numbers—to preschoolers:
Cooking
Cooking is one of the most fun activities to do with the kids! Children love making things and the best part about cooking is being able to eat what they’ve made! Incorporate counting while preparing ingredients to familiarize your child with numbers. You can practice counting with them while adding the ingredients to the dish as well. Teach them to recognize the numbers by having them read the instructions from a recipe. There are so many ways of incorporating numeracy into cooking and it’s such an enjoyable activity for both the parent and child.
Arts & Crafts
Children love crafts! Not only does it help children with creativity and fine motor skills, it also allows so many ways of incorporating numeracy too. Check out the various activities with different learning goals here!
Singing
One of the best ways of remembering things is through songs. It is much easier to remember things when there is a rhythm and melody incorporated. It’s exactly how we learn the lyrics to a song! Singing counting songs with your toddler will help them remember the numbers easily. It’s a simple method that benefits your child in many other ways too!
Reading
We all know the huge benefits of reading so why not engage your child with a counting book? If your child finds the counting book too easy, give them a challenge to create their own book about numbers! That way, the little ones would be training their motor, reading, writing and numeracy skills all at once!
