Food Counting‍

Give your child a plate with different finger foods. Suggest that your child feed themselves, and help them count how many pieces of food they have on their plate. Talk about how many pieces of each type of food there are on the plate, “You have one banana slice and one piece of chicken, two things to eat.”

Number Songs

‍Five Little Pumpkins song (hold up a finger for each pumpkin as you say the poem)

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “oh my, it’s getting late.”
The second one said, “but we don’t care.”
The third one said, “let’s go to the fair.”
The fourth one said, “let’s have some fun.”
The fifth one said, “let’s run, run, run.”
Whoooo went the wind and out went the light.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

This Little Piggy (count your child’s toes as you playfully touch each one)

Piggy number one went to market
Piggy number two stayed home
Piggy number three had roast beef
Piggy number four had none
Piggy number five cried wee wee wee all the way home

Color Sorting

‍Put blocks of all one color in a basket or container. Also include several small toys of the same color. For example, you could try red blocks, a red fire engine, and red cups. Give your child the red toys and blocks to play with. As your child plays, talk about what the toys are and their color. Stick to the same color for a few days and point out objects you see of the same color during the day. Make a game out of it and ask your child to bring you objects that are that color. When you notice your toddler has found examples of the color in many settings, it’s time to switch to a new color!

Shape Games

‍Shapes are everywhere! Begin to point them out. Stick with the same shape for at least a few days and start easy. Help your child learn a circle, a square, and a triangle before moving on to octagons. You can cut snacks into shapes (for example, a triangle sandwich, a circle piece of cheese).

Matching Games

‍There are many available to buy, or you can make your own. Show your child how to spread out all of the pictures and then put the pairs together. “Here’s a picture of an apple and here’s another picture of an apple. Can you put the two apples together?” Then let your child use the pictures in their own way.

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