Early math activities
Counting with the hands before counting in the head: counters, stairs, spindles, a ten you can hold. A number is first a quantity your child touches; the numeral comes after.
14 Early Math activities, sorted by age. Every one works at home, with what you already have.
For 3 to 4 years
One for Each
One walnut per bowl, not two, not zero: one-to-one correspondence, the foundation of all math.
Counting the Stairs
One number per step, one word per stride: the number sequence enters the body.
Number Rods
Rods of growing length: quantity becomes something you can see and weigh in your hands.
How Many Are There?
Counting real little collections by moving each object: one word, one motion, never more.
Matching Number and Quantity
The written numeral finally meets the quantity it stands for, counter by counter.
For 4 to 6 years
Counting with Counters
Place a counter, say a number. Number becomes something you can touch.
Setting the Table by Counting
Four plates, four cups, four forks: real counting, because it's put to real use.
Sandpaper Numbers
Numerals to trace with a finger, in writing order, so the hand knows them before it draws them.
Odd and Even
Lining counters up two by two under each numeral: numbers give up their secret.
Spindle Boxes and Zero
Sticks to sort from 0 to 9 into the right compartments, and the discovery that zero means nothing.
Addition with Counters
Three counters and two counters brought together: the first addition, seen and done with your own hands.
Discovering Tens
Ten beads strung on a wire become a single object: that's what ten really is.
Subtraction with Counters
Take counters away and look at what's left: subtraction becomes a motion.