Introduction
Maths is everywhere, even for babies and toddlers!
Lots of day-to-day experiences involve mathematical skills that many of us wouldn't even consider as maths.
So even if you think you aren't great at maths, you'll still have absolutely loads to teach your little one!
How CBeebies can help
Although Numberjacks is designed for slightly older children, toddlers will still find it interesting. They can shout out any numbers they recognise on screen. There are games, programme clips and make and colour activities to try out on the Numberjacks pages on the website.
Many pre-school programmes, like Tikkabilla, incorporate mathematical skills - whether it's a counting rhyme, number story, shape sorting or looking at how things fit together. Again, your toddler could try out some of these on the website pages.
However, there are many activities you can do with your little one whether you're at home or out and about.
You can identify house numbers as you go for a walk, look at the shapes of objects you see (e.g. wheels, doors), pair up socks, sort and match other items - even count toys as you tidy them away!
How to make a magic moment
Babies as young as four or five months old love playing peek-a-boo.
If you count;1, 2, 3, boo! they begin to remember the sequence of word sounds and know when the boo is coming. After a little while your baby will giggle and squeal in anticipation of the boo.
Toddlers love creating. Making a castle (or anything really) out of empty cartons and packets helps toddlers learn about size, shape and space.
Learning how things may or may not fit together helps young children appreciate the importance of shape, how they can be used as well as the actual name of a shape.
