Between 3-4 years, children can already learn to identify the different numbers that there are, what they are called and in what order they are, although they still do not know their true meaning. It is a first contact with the numbers that are present in our day to day, and a way to learn their meaning and rules. Today we talk about how to teach numbers to children, always in a fun and playful way.
When is the ideal time to teach numbers to children?
It depends. Every child has a development, and not all children are the same or learn in the same way. We will have to adapt to the level of development of the child and know its rhythm.
Children often start counting naturally. Everything around you has numbers and it is something you see on a daily basis. But it does not mean that they are prepared to know the real meaning of the numbers and what they represent. They will be able to repeat numbers like they could repeat anything else. So the important thing is to work with the concept of quantity, something very important to learn the numbers and what they represent. It is a new concept for them, where they associate quantities and numbers, and it can take a long time.
How should we enter the numbers?
Well we can take advantage of all that experience where there are numbers involved: in the supermarket, in books, on the clock, on clothes ... Physical materials are easier to teach quantities and numbers. You can tell him what you are seeing and its amounts "look at a dog", "up there are 3 cats", "in the park there are 3 trees". So you will see that the numbers are everywhere.
Ideally, first work with quantities to assimilate the concept and then they go on to write the numbers. Try to make their learning as natural as possible, and not force them. Children need to see that numbers are fun. Let's see some fun games where we can teach numbers to children so that they have fun playing. We can propose these activities from 3-4 years.
How to teach numbers to children
- Building games. Children are fascinated by construction games where they create things and also destroy them. You can tell him to give you a number of pieces. You can also put the number of fingers on your hand. Or you can also create a tower with x pieces and another with z pieces. This is how you will see the comparison between quantities.
- Play shopping. You can make coins with cardboard that are worth 1 and that each thing is worth 1 as well. So you will see that two coins will be two objects. As you master the concept, you can complicate the game.
- Songs. There are songs for everything, and songs with numbers could not be missing. It helps them memorize and learn without realizing it. On YouTube you can find songs designed for this learning.
- Tales. Take advantage of reading moments to incorporate the numbers into the illustrations. How many birds do you see in this picture? How many children are playing? This will stimulate their counting ability.
- Magnetic and plastic numbers. As we had seen with the letters in the article "How to teach the alphabet to children", a good way to learn is with magnetic numbers (which are like magnets to stick on magnetic boards) or plastic. There are many materials on the market and of different prices. Or you can also create it yourself with plastic cards, ideally each one has a different color. Visual references are very good to learn to identify numbers, their meaning and sound.
- Educational toys. There are specific games on the market to work numbers in a fun way, some specific to Montessori.
Because remember ... we should not pressure them to learn, since this requires their own maturation and does not depend on them.