Help Your Young Children Love Math by Playing Games with Them
Children at the Head Start site in Rantoul, Illinois build a tower with nesting blocks. Kimberlie Kranich
Young children learn best through play. And play is natural for children. Engaging your child with math is as important as reading to your child. You can play with your children while helping them learn math.
Sometimes we parents need support in doing this. I know I did. I didn’t know, for example, that playing puzzles with my four-year-old child helps her develop foundational geometry skills. Once I learned this, I bought her more puzzles! She loves to go on trips with us and with a little help, I turned those road trips into counting games that helped us track objects.
In February, WILL’s Education Department, in collaboration with teachers and administrators at the Champaign County Head Start site in Rantoul, provided fun math activities for parents and their children.
Stacking nesting blocks was a big hit with the children. Parents used the blocks to help their children count up and down and identify blocks from smallest to largest.
Inexpensive games such as Chutes & Ladders and Hi-Ho Cherry-O help with counting and number recognition.
By playing games that involve math, you are subtly instilling a love of math. You can read more about why this is important and how to do it in this article on the PBS Parents website.
For a list of age-appropriate math activities that you can do with your child, click here.
We wish you and your family many hours of fun!