Introducing toddlers to math concepts through games, songs, and puzzles are just some ways to spark curiosity and make learning about colors, shapes, numbers, and other important math concepts fun. Our Links to Learning curriculum combines learning with play, introducing toddlers to geometry and relationships, problem-solving skills and reasoning, simple counting, shapes, colors, and more through interactive and hands-on activities. Continue the learning at home with these fun games and math activities that will inspire your little ones to discover the magic of math!

Colors and Shapes with Cars

Does your child love playing with cars? Then we have the perfect activity for color recognition and sorting. Supply your child with colored cars and ask them to drive their car to the matching “parking garage.” Your parking garage can be anything from a colored piece of construction paper to a colored bin. 

Puzzles

Puzzles are a timeless and simple way to help toddlers develop spatial awareness and problem-solving skills. There are shape-sorting puzzles, stacking puzzles, large floor puzzles, and more that are sure to excite and challenge your toddler. Consider getting a number puzzle to begin exploring number recognition. You can even make a puzzle! Print out a picture, cut it into pieces, and ask your child to put it together.

Hopscotch Number Line

If your child is in their second year of toddlerhood, this one’s for them! Using chalk, draw a line on your driveway or sidewalk. Draw 1 – 5 short lines intersecting the first line to create a number line and label the numbers. Encourage your child to step or hop along each number, counting as they go.  

Stacking/ Building with Blocks

Stacking blocks helps toddlers learn about measurement by exploring height and length, improves their spatial reasoning as they fit blocks together, and teaches balance by showing them how to stack without toppling over. Count with your toddler how many blocks they are able to stack. Insider tip: Toddlers love knocking down their block towers! Go ahead and celebrate this fun cause and effect relationship with them, then encourage them to build again! 

Fingerplays and Songs

Toddlers love to sing and be silly! Do you know “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” “Sally the Camel,” or “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”? These are perfect to sing and say with your little ones to help them understand counting concepts as well as begin counting on their fingers. A quick internet search will pull up plenty of resources! 

Water Play!

Yes, this one’s a bit messy but it’s also so fun and will keep your toddler busy for quite some time. Fill a large bin with water and give your child different types of containers to experiment with volume and measurement by filling and pouring. Discuss concepts like full, empty, and more or less. 

*Never leave your child unattended during this activity. 

Counting Nature Walk

Go on a nature walk collecting items like leaves, stones, flowers, etc. Count them together as you collect or after your walk. Again, discuss more or less, and sort your findings into categories.

Math Storytime

It’s likely that you already read books with your child, so why not incorporate math into storytime? There are wonderful books that are fun and teach math concepts. Read “Mouse Paint” by Ellen Walsh to learn about colors, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle to teach counting, and “Round Is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes” by Roseanne Thong to learn about shapes.