Small household objects like buttons, pencils, bowls, coins and books can be used to teach addition to children. Take any object and first form a set of four and then a set of five with it. The child will first count each set individually. The two sets are then joined and the total number is counted. The child will thus learn that four plus five is nine. Different combinations can thus be formed to teach simple addition.
A visit to a shopping mall can become an addition tutorial whereby the child is encouraged to count the number of units of a particular product displayed on the shelves. A favorite game which the family loves playing can be another activity for addition. If playing bingo, call out “B- 4+3” instead of “B-7”or any other combination which will encourage the child to add. An excursion to the zoo can similarly be used to practice addition. Encourage the child to count the number of different animals seen and then add to get the total animals exhibited.
A discarded egg carton, in good condition, can be remodeled into a useful device for addition activity. Using colorful marker pens, write down a particular number at the base of every empty egg cup in the carton. Take a few small colored erasers in different shapes. Put two erasers into the egg carton and close the lid. Ask the child to vigorously shake the closed carton. On opening, the erasers will have landed in any two of the empty cups. The child has to add the numbers mentioned at the base of the cups.
Draw a grid on a chart paper. One row of the grid has each square containing a particular number like “twelve,” “fifteen,” “twenty,” and another row has squares each containing two numbers which add up to that particular number like “eight plus four,” “six plus nine” and “eight plus twelve.” Stick the chart to a cardboard and cut along the grid lines to make cards. Divide the cards into one pile containing the addition equation and another pile containing the answer numbers. Pick up a card from the answer number pile and the child has to search out the equation card from that pile.