Let's Count!

This month, you and your toddler will explore:

Previous

stacking & balancing
Placing one block on top of another seems simple. But as your toddler figures out the best way to balance an object and prevent it from toppling, they’re stretching their hand muscles and their brain in one go. Try upping their game by encouraging even more problem-solving. Can you make another shape with these blocks?

counting
When it comes to nailing number skills, repetition is key. Fortunately, toddlers love repetition. So try familiar counting rhymes or songs — music and math make an irresistible combination!

spatial awareness
Your kid is a born scientist. And seeing how objects move and fit into space takes up much of their play time, er, scientific inquiry. Support their curiosity with plenty of gozinto” games, as in: Can this go into that?

problem-solving
Your toddler is busy figuring out how the world works — through play. Problem-solving toys like nesting boxes, stacking rings, and puzzles provide them with age-appropriate challenges to try and try again until . . . bingo! They’ve got it.

matching & sorting
Most kids aren’t ready to start matching and sorting on their own until after they turn 2. But pointing out things that are the same and different — like how people walk on two legs and dogs walk on four — helps your child make the connection for these foundational math skills.

shape & color recognition
Young toddlers can begin dividing things by same and different — a foundational math skill. You can help them by naming the shapes and colors of things: Your plate is round. That giraffe is yellow. This orange is . . . orange. (Sorry, baby, it can get confusing!)

fine motor & grasp
Your toddler needs to hone their hand muscles for all sorts of everyday activities that will come later on, from writing to playing sports. To strengthen their grasping skills, try a game of two legs/four legs, where you pile up stuffies and ask your child to pick out the ones with two legs and the ones with four.

logic & reasoning
It’s tempting to explain everything to your toddler, but try asking them why questions instead. For instance, Why doesn’t this piece fit into the slot? Even if they don’t have the words to answer (yet), this encourages your child to be curious and lead with wonder.

stacking & balancing
Placing one block on top of another seems simple. But as your toddler figures out the best way to balance an object and prevent it from toppling, they’re stretching their hand muscles and their brain in one go. Try upping their game by encouraging even more problem-solving. Can you make another shape with these blocks?

counting
When it comes to nailing number skills, repetition is key. Fortunately, toddlers love repetition. So try familiar counting rhymes or songs — music and math make an irresistible combination!

spatial awareness
Your kid is a born scientist. And seeing how objects move and fit into space takes up much of their play time, er, scientific inquiry. Support their curiosity with plenty of gozinto” games, as in: Can this go into that?

problem-solving
Your toddler is busy figuring out how the world works — through play. Problem-solving toys like nesting boxes, stacking rings, and puzzles provide them with age-appropriate challenges to try and try again until . . . bingo! They’ve got it.

matching & sorting
Most kids aren’t ready to start matching and sorting on their own until after they turn 2. But pointing out things that are the same and different — like how people walk on two legs and dogs walk on four — helps your child make the connection for these foundational math skills.

shape & color recognition
Young toddlers can begin dividing things by same and different — a foundational math skill. You can help them by naming the shapes and colors of things: Your plate is round. That giraffe is yellow. This orange is . . . orange. (Sorry, baby, it can get confusing!)

fine motor & grasp
Your toddler needs to hone their hand muscles for all sorts of everyday activities that will come later on, from writing to playing sports. To strengthen their grasping skills, try a game of two legs/four legs, where you pile up stuffies and ask your child to pick out the ones with two legs and the ones with four.

logic & reasoning
It’s tempting to explain everything to your toddler, but try asking them why questions instead. For instance, Why doesn’t this piece fit into the slot? Even if they don’t have the words to answer (yet), this encourages your child to be curious and lead with wonder.

stacking & balancing
Placing one block on top of another seems simple. But as your toddler figures out the best way to balance an object and prevent it from toppling, they’re stretching their hand muscles and their brain in one go. Try upping their game by encouraging even more problem-solving. Can you make another shape with these blocks?
Next
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8

1. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Counting Cards

   Connect textures and shapes to numbers with 10 tactile counting cards.

2. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Shape Puzzles

   Toddlers can practice spatial awareness by identifying three shapes and nesting the nine pieces together.

3. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Cylinder Puzzle

   Toddlers can practice their fine motor skills by placing four cylinders into a toddler-sized puzzle base.

4. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Stacking Cups

   Count the bumps or holes on each numbered cup before stacking them up tall or playing with them in the bath.

5. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Grownup Guide

   Over 20 pages of research-backed guidance, development milestones, and activities to try at home.

6. 

   Only in Plus + Deluxe:

   Play-and-Go Lockbox

   Drop tokens into the slot on top and open three doors (or peek through a window) for “Let’s do it again!” play.

7. 

   Only in Plus + Deluxe:

   Slide-and-Stack Ring Puzzle

   This ring puzzle has six mini puzzles to encourage problem-solving and proud toddler “I did it!” moments.

8. 

   Only in Deluxe:

   Numbers

   From radishes to raindrops, follow along to count from 1 to 1,000.