When children learn a new skill, they are eager to use it often. Proud of their accomplishment, they want the world to know about the new information they have acquired.
That is most definitely the case with my 4 year old son right now. He has recently become fascinated with numbers, and has learned to count nearly to 100. He is so excited about his newfound knowledge!
Everywhere we go – the grocery store, library, or even on a walk around the neighborhood – Zahir is counting objects that he sees.
Most of our activities lately have been focused on math. Some of his favorites include Paper Cup Number Matching Activity, Find & Clip Number Line Activity, and Grab & Drop Counting Game.
This week, we’ve been playing a simple building and counting game over and over again. It is so quick and easy, I knew we had to share it with all of you. Whether in the classroom or at home, this is sure to be a big hit with the kids.
What we used:
- Dice
- LEGO DUPLO
We started by gathering dice and 40 LEGO DUPLO blocks. After spreading the blocks out on a flat surface, we were ready to play.
The object of this game, is to be the first person to build a tower consisting of 20 blocks.
Zahir (age 4) began by rolling the dice, counting the dots, and gathering the correct number of LEGO blocks to begin building his tower.
Fun Fact: The dots on dice are actually called “pips.” My 10 year old recently taught me that after watching some kids on YouTube playing a dice game.
We took turns rolling and counting. Zahir also named each color that we used, and worked on simple addition skills as he added blocks and counted to find the total. Of course, manipulating the blocks also provided plenty of fine motor practice as well.
One aspect of this game that he really enjoyed was comparing his tower to mine. After each turn, he would put our towers side by side, and count to see which one had more.
Then, he would tell me “Mommy, your tower has 2 more blocks than mine.” or “Look, now my tower has 5 more than yours.”
He certainly liked the competitive nature of this counting game.
We kept going until there was a winner (him), and then started over again.
This was such a simple and fun way to practice counting.
Interested in more LEGO activities? You might like 25 LEGO Learning Activities and Make Your Own LEGO Puzzles For Preschoolers.
Be sure to check out our LEGO Activities board on Pinterest for more ideas and inspiration.
