Use at least five different types of fruit. Arrange them in a bowl. Sit at the kitchen table with the child. Show him the fruit bowl and ask him to identify the different types of fruit as an exercise in memory and identification. Ask him his favorite fruit and begin the first lesson in counting with this choice.
Ask the child to sort the fruit into piles on the table. Instruct her to count the number in each pile. Record the numbers on a pad of paper. Ask her to add variations of these fruits. For example, add the oranges and the apples for a final total. Change the question each time so the child must identify the fruit, add the numbers and provide a final count. Add up the total number of fruit on the table.
Separate his favorite fruit from the rest. Begin a lesson in subtraction. Ask him to count the total number of apples, then begin taking away apples and asking how many are left. Change the total taken away each time. Allow the child to physically use the fruit to understand the concept of subtraction. Remove the fruit, then ask the same question so he must do the calculations in his head. Repeat the process with different fruit until he grasps the idea.
Teach multiplication beginning with one group of fruit. Place the oranges in a row. Put one forward, explaining to the child that one times one is one. Show how the fruit becomes multiples through counting more than one at a time. For example, if there are six oranges, begin counting one by one, then two by two and finally three by three, so she can see how multiples work. Teach the multiplication tables that correspond with the number of fruit.
Put away all the other fruit except two of the child's favorite. Use a knife to cut one in half, to represent division. If one is cut in half, he will see that two pieces are produced. Cut those two pieces in half to produce four pieces, and so forth. Cut the other fruit into thirds to show the difference in how many pieces are produced.