Counting -- One, Two!

Here's a way your child can easily learn to categorize items.

• small boxes or containers with lids
• ltiples of the same or very similar toys
• animal stickers
• sturdy cardboard

What to do:

1. Put one small toy in a box and five to eight small toys in another box. Encourage your child to explore what is in the boxes. Count the toys in each. To reinforce the concept that one of the boxes has one toy and the other box has many toys, point this out to your child over and over again. Ask her which box has one toy and which has many toys. (If she's right, clap your hands in approval. If she's wrong, smile, laugh, and play the game another day.)
2. Add a third box with two toys. Count the toys in each box, reinforcing the number concept by saying, "This box has one toy, this box has two toys, and this box has many toys."
3. When your toddler is older and can easily recognize the boxes with one, two, and many toys, help her identify the boxes using her sense of hearing. Leave the lid on the boxes and gently shake each one next to your child's ear. After she hears the toy or toys rattling in each box, open the lid and count together how many toys are inside. Then play this as a guessing game, asking your toddler to tell you whether the box contains one, two, or many toys based on the noise it makes when you shake it.
4. Make sorting cards by pasting colorful animal stickers on cardboard. Make five cards that each have one sticker, five cards that have two stickers, and five cards that have many stickers. Look through the cards together, counting and naming the animals. "This card has one dog. This one has two horses." Help your older toddler sort the cards into piles of one, two, and many.

Learning Benefits

• counting
• vocabulary development (one, two, many)
• categorization