Menu

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
    • Developmental Domains of Early Childhood
      • Language Development
      • Cognitive Development
      • Motor Development
      • Social/Emotional Development
      • Self-Help/Adaptive Development
      • Spiritual and Moral Development
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure/Disclaimer
    • Terms of Use
  • Thematic Units
  • Concepts
    • Alphabet
    • Number Recognition
    • Color Activities For Toddlers
    • Shapes
    • Reading
    • Science Experiments
    • Sunday School Activities
  • Holidays
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • For Parents
    • Gifts
    • DIY Ideas
    • Recipes
    • Photography Tips
    • A Lesson Learned
    • Tools
      • Infant Percentile Calculator
      • Children’s Percentile Calculator
      • Children’s BMI Calculator
  • Shop

I Can Teach My Child!

Activities and resources for parents of young children

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Blog
  • Birth-12 Months
  • Fun Activities For 1 to 2 Years Old
  • Home
  • 2-3 Years
  • 3-5 Years
  • 6+ Years

August 7, 2013 by Jenae - Leave a Comment
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.

Number Detectives

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

Guest Post by Katie of Gift of Curiosity

I’m Katie, mom to a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl. I’m so excited to be guest posting at I Can Teach My Child today in order to share a fun number learning game I call “Number Detectives.”

QBoy has been really interested in numbers lately. He can easily count from 1 to 10, and he has just about learned to recognize the numbers from 1 to 10 as well. XGirl does not recognize any numbers yet, but she does know how to count objects. I designed this Number Detectives activity so that both kids could play it according to their developmental level.

I started by writing numbers in chalk up and down our driveway.

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

Then I created cards for each kid with dots on them. XGirl had the blue cards and QBoy had the yellow cards. As you can see, I wrote the numerals on XGirl’s cards because she doesn’t yet recognize them. So for her, the goal was to count and then match the numbers. For QBoy, on the other hand, the goal was to count and then recognize the numbers.

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

Once I had my materials set up, I explained to the kids that I needed some detectives for a very important job. Were they up for the task? They assured me they were. :-)

I explained that all good detectives must carry a spray bottle in order to spray the bad guys. So the kids prepared their spray bottles.

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

I then explained that all good detectives need tools to capture the bad guys. So the kids grabbed their hula hoops from the garage.

At that point we were ready to play, so I handed each kid a card. They counted the dots on their card, then had to find the corresponding number on our driveway.

Once they found their numbers, they “captured” them by throwing a hula hoop around them.

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

Then they took out their spray bottles and squirted the numbers until they were gone.

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

This was such fun for them, because my kids get such a kick out of using the spray bottle.

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

Plus, all that spraying really develops the muscles of the hand.

Number detectives - a fun game to help kids recognize their numbers || Gift of Curiosity

Part of what made this activity so successful was the detective scenario I created for the kids and the enthusiasm I expressed about “capturing” their numbers and squirting them with water. The kids happily ran up and down our driveway capturing and spraying numbers for quite some time. And I loved that they were having fun while simultaneously working on so many skills, such as counting, number recognition, gross motor, and fine motor skills.

 

Katie has worked in the education field for over 12 years, and recently completed her PhD in child and adolescent development. Nonetheless, she finds parenting her two preschool age children to be the best education of all. She blogs at Gift of Curiosity where she provide ideas and inspiration for fostering young children’s development, learning, and curiosity. You can also keep up with her on Facebook and Pinterest.

 

Related Posts

  • Sand Numbers

    Anytime you can incorporate multiple senses into an activity, it is beneficial for your child's…

  • "April Showers" One-to-One Correspondence Activity

      One-to-one correspondence is a very important concept for young children and is a basic…

  • Counting Robots

      This simple activity is great for number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, and fine motor control!…

  • Animal Cracker Counting and One-to-One Correspondence Practice

      Little Brother is just a few months shy of being the exact same age…

  • Simple Balloon-Shaped Homemade Matching Games

      Guest Post by Jen of Mama.Papa.Bubba.   As a mama who loves to prepare…

  • Pumpkin Seed Puzzles

      Happy Halloween! Use your leftover pumpkin seeds from jack-o-lantern making to make these pumpkin…

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You Might Also Love

Baseball Card Sleeve Seed Planter
Categories: 3-5 years, Flowers and Plants, STEM
Home Learning Tool Kit to use During Coronavirus Pandemic
How to Learn at Home During a Pandemic
Categories: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, School Age
Activities for Kids on a Sick Day
Activities for Kids on Sick Days
Categories: 3-5 years, Helpful Hints for Parents

Primary Sidebar

Kindergarten Readiness Teach Your Child to Read ABC Printable Scripture Cards Indoor Toddler Activiites

Looking for something specific?

Footer

Note on Copyright

Feel free to use ideas at your home, school or anywhere else you learn and play. If you wish to share any posts or photographs from this site on your blog or website, please make sure to abide by the following copyright guidelines: -Use Only 1 Photo -Maximum of 1-2 sentence description -Include a link to the ORIGINAL post Please do not repost/duplicate more than 1-2 sentences of the tutorial or distribute printed content without written permission from the original author. Please do not use ANY of the photographs on this website on Instagram.
Privacy
© 2021 I Can Teach My Child, LLC. All Rights Reserved. · Site Design and Hosting by SERVOUSLY
The owner and writer of this blog accepts no liability. Readers following instructions and suggestions made by the owner and writers are responsible for their own safety and the safety of minors in their care. All activities require adult supervision at all times. Children under 3 should not participate in any activities that involve small pieces.
Back to Top
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

SAVE & ACCEPT
  • About
    ▼
    • Developmental Domains of Early Childhood
      ▼
      • Language Development
      • Cognitive Development
      • Motor Development
      • Social/Emotional Development
      • Self-Help/Adaptive Development
      • Spiritual and Moral Development
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure/Disclaimer
    • Terms of Use
  • Thematic Units
  • Concepts
    ▼
    • Alphabet
    • Number Recognition
    • Color Activities For Toddlers
    • Shapes
    • Reading
    • Science Experiments
    • Sunday School Activities
  • Holidays
    ▼
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • For Parents
    ▼
    • Gifts
    • DIY Ideas
    • Recipes
    • Photography Tips
    • A Lesson Learned
    • Tools
      ▼
      • Infant Percentile Calculator
      • Children’s Percentile Calculator
      • Children’s BMI Calculator
  • Shop
  • Birth-12 Months
  • 1 – 2 Years
  • 2-3 Years
  • 3-5 Years
  • 6+ Years
  • Blog