Does your preschooler have blocks? Puzzles? What about coloring books, paper and crayons? These common items are great tools to help build your child's math skills.
By simply playing with puzzles and blocks, your child is learning basic geometry. As she manipulates these three-dimensional items, she's building her motor skills and spatial reasoning as she learns how objects of different shapes and sizes take up space. When she does a puzzle, she's learning how different things have relationships with each other and as part of a whole. If you are buying a puzzle for your child, pay attention to the age level both from a choking hazard standpoint and for readiness. A 100-piece puzzles isn't appropriate for most preschoolers yet, but a 10-piece puzzle could be too easy. Focus on your child's skill level and interest.
Connect the dot books are a great way to teach your child number sequencing and recognition. Plus, there is a payoff -- if they get it right, they'll see a picture. Start off with books that go up to 10, as your child gets older, use ones that have higher numbers. If you don't have connect the dot books, you can easily make your own by tracing an image from a coloring book and then adding dots and numbers.
