All about number play

Research found that number play was associated with children being more prepared for school in both the U.S. and Mexico! In the U.S. playing with numbers was associated with children being less sad, and in Mexico, number play was associated with children showing more respect and empathy towards others, and to a lesser extent, less aggression! Check out the play ideas below on how you can best guide your child’s healthy number play!

• Choose a board game that involves counting spaces or numbers on dice.
• Play pretend store and make fake money that your child can count in order to buy or sell different items.
• Choose a favorite number and see how many times your child can find it on different license plates during a car ride.
• Make or give your child a play clock that they can use to tell time, and make up activities for different times, such as a 2pm pretend tea time.
• Make or give your child numbered cards and make a game of how fast they can be put in ascending and descending order.
• Play a game and keep score by having your child write down the number of points earned after each round.