**Day 7**

Numbers and Hearts

Number sense is one of the most difficult concepts to master. My biggest piece of advice for all you moms with little ones at home is to start young! Introduce your child to numbers at an early age through developmentally appropriate games/activities. Count often and show your child what numbers look like. Not just their shape (i.e. 9) but how many 9 is: ********* (9 stars). It is important you do this often, if not daily, to help your child gain a strong sense of numbers. This will greatly help him when he begins preschool and kindergarten.

A fun way to practice number sense is by letting your child play hands-on games like the ones below.

To make it fun and festive, you can buy these cute hearts from the dollar store (14 for a dollar!) and write the numbers 1 through 10 on each heart. Of course you can write less or more depending on what you think your child can handle.

With these numbers there are countless ways to play games!

You can give your child the hearts in a big pile (not in order) and have her lay them out on the floor in the correct order.

OR....You can have your child help you lay out the numbers in order on the ground and then tell her (or show her) a number and have her "skip" or "hop" or "twirl" or "walk backwards" or...I think you get the picture, to that number. You can do this one over and over and over again!

If you buy enough hearts and you can play a GIANT game of memory to match the correct numbers (i.e. 5 and 5) or addition/subtraction memory (turn over two numbers and have your child add or subtract them) for older children.

 OR....You can give your child one heart and have her "show" you what the number looks like using manipulatives.

You can also have your child draw pictures on the hearts and then hang them with ribbon or yarn from the ceiling in her bedroom or in the living room for some cute decorations!

Have fun playing with hearts!