Mining for Numbers

I took this idea from No Time For Flash Cards and tweaked it a little bit for us. My daughter is great with shapes, but we still need to get number recognition down pat.

I used the sensory box idea from No Time For Flash Cards and filled ours with puzzle numbers, number magnets and bits of craft foam with numbers written on them. Then I typed out a simple sheet that read "Find the Numbers!" with each number in a column. When she found a number in the sensory box, she had to say the correct number name and sort it into the correct column. Fun learning!

Number Hunt

You know those kids that know everything about a bunch of random stuff--like water cycles, magma and lava, plates crushing into each other, a zillion random facts about dinosaurs, etc, etc----yet they are missing some of the basics--like number recognition?

That's my little one. She has such a hard time recognizing 6,9 and 10--honestly does not get them (yet she can add....very strange!) So we've been having number hunts. We go around the house searching for a certain number. I'll point out a number and say "is this a 10?" and we shout NO! (Or yes as the case may be!) Or she'll point out a number---Mommy, here's a number 10! Great fun and it's really helping her get these few numbers down!

Here are some tips for the number hunts:
-Look for numbers everywhere: on the clocks, in pages of books, on bottles of lotion, on the microwave, on measuring cups!
-If you're worried about not having enough of a certain number to find, make number strips and tape them to the wall. On our walls right now we have 6s, 9s, 10s, and 7s and 8s thrown in there for good measure.
-Have your little one carry a bag, basket or purse to collect the numbers. Reagan will collect the bits of paper, number magnets, books with the number in it, foam numbers, even lotion bottles in her purse!


This has been working so well for us I thought I'd share it with you! And for those of you who get frustrated, as I do on a daily basis, try to remember (as I am) that all children get different concepts at different times!

**This post is linked up at Link and Learn at No Time For Flash Cards (a GREAT site for crafts and learning activities!)