How to Teach Number Recognition With Games

Young children often learn best through games and activities rather than working at desks. Young children should not be expected to sit quietly and study for long periods of time. Get up and get moving to motivate children toward learning. Teach number recognition easily through simple games, such as basketball, hopscotch and bingo. Finding a game that a child likes to play encourages the child's participation, facilitates learning and motivates the child to want to learn. Repetition of the games reinforces the number concepts through play.

Things You'll Need

  • Chalk
  • Index cards
  • Box
  • Clothespins
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Instructions

    • 1
      Hopscotch is a classic game for teaching number recognition to young children.

      Draw a chalk hopscotch board with 10 squares on the sidewalk. Number the squares one through 10. Have the child hop on the squares in order, calling out the number in the square as he hops. If the child calls the wrong number or steps on the wrong square, he goes back to the beginning of the hopscotch game. If more than one player is participating, it becomes the next player's turn.

    • 2

      Draw the outline of footballs or basketballs onto 10 index cards, and cut out the ball shapes. Write the numbers one through 10 on both sides of the ball cards. Other numbers may be used, such as numbers 11 through 20 when students have advanced to higher numbers. Throw the paper balls labeled with numbers into the air to scatter them on the ground. Place a box or small bin near the area. Call out the numbers, and have the children take turns locating the number that is called. Allow the children to dunk the balls into the box when they find the correct numbers.

    • 3

      Write numbers one through five on index cards. Instruct the child to say the number, and clip the corresponding number of clothespins to the card. Around age 5, children begin to identify written numerals with the number of objects that they represent, and this game reinforces that idea. Play with additional ranges of numerals as the children advance.

    • 4
      Bingo teaches children to find and to identify numbers quickly.

      Design a bingo board with a computer spreadsheet. The board should be three to four columns across and four to five rows long. Enter the numbers that are being taught in order from left to right on the bingo board. The numbers should increase as they go down the board and across to the right. Print several bingo boards. Give each child a bingo board, and call out numbers. Have the child place a marker on the number that is called when he locates it. Create markers from spare pieces from other games, or cut small circles from index cards.

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