Are you ready to give your little ones a big spelling and numeracy boost through educational play?
The “big kid world” of words and numbers needn’t be put on hold until your growing boy or girl goes to primary school – even before they are ready to do sums or spell out words, your children can get a head start by exploring early learning opportunities through games, sorting sets, and puzzles.
We love helping little ones learn, so we’ve collected five of our favourite spelling and numeracy playtime essentials which will be loads of fun for your children. Some of these learning games are perfect to get toddlers off to an early start - so have a look for your child’s age-appropriate fit!
#1. A, B, C, D, E, F, G…
Children as young as 18-months-old can start exploring the wonderful world of letters at their own pace with little wooden letter discs. Let them stack the little discs up, line them up in a row or simply let them appreciate the patterns they are creating!
Once they are a little older, they will be confident enough to learn and give meaning to different letters and the sounds that each letter represents.
#2. Word puzzle play
Playing with word puzzle activity boards is another lovely literacy game for your little ones – a bonus if each letter is a bright, eye-catching colour that can help them with colour recognition too!
As children slot in each letter and give it meaning, for instance, “this is an orange A” or “this is a green E”, it will boost their vocabulary as they enjoy fitting each piece into the right slot.
#3. Sort and play!
Pretty wooden number sets will soon become a favourite pastime for kids who are curious about numbers. From sorting the numbers into rows, putting them in a big sorting bowl and then taking them out again, these perfectly shaped numbers are such a treat for kids to explore.
As your children grow and learn more about numbers, they will also start getting curious about sums and adding or subtracting small amounts – the perfect start for trying out more advanced number games!
#4. Let’s start counting!
As soon as your kids are ready to improve their number play game, they can start counting with the help of counting sets designed to make counting easy.
A counting set with little jars and sticks is a perfect playtime tool when they are ready and confident to count each number of sticks to match with the numbers on their little jars.
If your children prefer compact, all-in-one playsets, they can enjoy counting with a giant wooden abacus too – in fact, they might soon be able to count to 100 with this nifty learning tool that has been trusted for decades and beyond to teach children numeracy!
Ready, Set, Learn!
