Math Concepts

Math helps children develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.  Formal arithmetic, addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, etc..., is just one aspect of mathematics.  Math is all around us and we use it in our everyday lives, most of the time without even thinking about it; from estimation to spatial awareness, measurement and even patterns.
Children learn through play and exploration of their environment.  That is why, when choosing my daughter's activities, I base them on play.  I want her learning experience to be fun and exciting.  Could I whip out flash cards and drill things into her cute little head in the hopes that she'll memorize what I'm trying to teach her?  Sure, I could but I would rather her gain knowledge of these concepts through her own exploration, learning each step of a concept along the way.
One of the ways that young children learn about math is to group and match objects.  I have various sorting activities that I use with Aaralyn on a daily basis.  We use counting and number vocabulary and through play, she groups objects together, experiments with patterns, shapes and measurement and collects and organizes the various materials that are available to her.
For this activity, she had various items available to her: sea shells, shiny glass stones in a big and small variety and large felt squares.

Here she is touching and exploring the items

She is continuing her exploration and started naming the objects

She started counting the objects

I started grouping similar objects together and she followed suit

I expanded the activity by putting one of each object on a separate felt square and she started grouping like objects together

My husband is a mathematical genius, I, on the other hand, am NOT!  I have trouble remembering how to add and subtract!  Even though I'm no math whiz, I am still going to make math a part of her everyday learning so that she will have a solid foundation for her formal arithmetic training when she gets older, and I want her early learning to be fun!  Play, play, play!  It's the best way for her to learn and there will be plenty of time for the not so fun stuff when she is older.