Learning numbers is one of the first and most important skills a child should acquire as early as 12 months old. Some kids easily learn numbers from exposure in their environment. But for most children, learning numbers is a long process that requires expertise and specific strategies.
The first secret to make learning numbers easy is to provide the students with multiple learning opportunities through number stories, worksheets, group activities, and fun games. These activities will provide children with rich opportunities to practice number recognition and develop more efficient counting strategies.
This matching exercise provides a great way to learn number recognition from 1 to 20, how to write them, and how to count up to a specific number.
Why teach numbers?
Learning numbers is important for many reasons :
- understanding numbers provides the foundation for learnings mathematical operations and mathematics in general,
- it helps students develop thinking and problem-solving skills,
- it also helps them acquire a better understanding of the world around them because numbers are used in everyday living
What is included in this activity
There are 80 flashcards included in the activity to practice identifying numbers in 4 different exercises:
- matching the same numbers together
- matching numbers with different fonts and colors
- sequencing numbers from one to twenty
- matching numbers to number words
These activities can be adapted to the level of the student. For beginners, we can only use flashcards of numbers from 1 to 3. Do not overwhelm the child with too many numbers when you are first starting. Then you can increase the level of complexity according to the learning speed of your student.
Who can use these numbers’ flashcards
This activity is suitable for children in preschool and kindergarten. It is also an excellent exercise for speech therapy provided to children with learning disabilities, children on the Autism Spectrum, or with Down Syndrome.
These flashcards can be used in the classroom in small-group learning or as an individual activity. They can also be used in one-to-one sessions with a speech therapist, an ABA specialist, or any educator or parents that deal with children with special needs.
What are some strategies that help to learn numbers?
Here are some strategies to help your student/child learn numbers faster:
- start with concrete examples by giving children examples of numbers that they can touch, see or feel, then move to abstract concepts.
- help children generalize the numbers they learned by asking them to read numbers in their environment outside the classroom.
- praise your child and encourage him through positive reinforcement.
How to teach children number recognition
In order to introduce this exercise, you can follow these steps:
- Print and laminate the activity file (at the bottom of this page), then cut the different flashcards,
For durable materials, use a laminating machine to laminate the pdf file and velcro on the sorting objects and mats to make it easy to use and store this activity.
- Use the flashcards according to the exercise you intend to give the child :
- for matching numbers: the child should have the same numbers flashcards printed twice. Then we should ask the child to match the same numbers together: one with one, two with two, etc.
- matching numbers with different fonts and colors: the child is given two sets of numbers with different colors and fonts and is asked to match the same numbers together.
- sequencing numbers from one to twenty: the child is given the flashcards with numbers and asked to sequence them from small (one) to big (twenty)
- for matching numbers to number words: the child is given flashcards with numbers and flashcards with number words. He is then asked to match each number with its script: 1 with one, 2 with two, etc.
- Reinforce or correct the answer, if necessary, using the ABA procedure.
Keep in mind that the great thing about teaching numbers recognition is that there is no best way to do it. You have to keep trying different activities and exercises until your child acquires this skill.
Download the printable file