The Number Thief
This is a very simple game for number recognition that I used to play with the kids I taught at nursery years ago. We had a wall of velcro numbers but I’ve simplified it because funnily enough I don’t own either a laminator or a printer!
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So all you need is a pack of cards. But you can jazz it up a bit if you think your child might be a bit reluctant. I stood the cards in Playdoh to spark Ewan’s initial interest. But my top tip would be to get a “character” to steal the letters. You could use a cuddly toy, a puppet, or put on a hat to take turns to be the thief - whatever your little one would like best.
The game is simple:
- Lay the cards out Ace-10
- Tell your child to close their eyes because the naughty *insert character name here* is going to steal a number.
- Take one card away.
- Let them look and tell you the missing number.
- If they struggle say “let’s count together” and ‘find’ it.
So once they’ve got the hang of it steal two/three/four numbers, let them do the stealing, put numbers in the wrong order, hide the number somewhere in the room. Whatever you like to jazz it up.
Then it’s time for a cuppa and a Toffee Crisp…seeing as the rain is back! (Never wanted a beach* bod anyway…!)
*paddling pool
