It’s never too early to start talking math with a toddler, yes even for those under age 2. The perfect place to do it? At the playground!

Chances are you’re going to be at a playground anyway, so why not throw in a little math? Once you start looking, you’ll realize just how many shapes there are to talk about. Today with Veronika, we found everything from the obvious, like a neat set of squares to climb…

…or a circle wheel to drive…

…to the subtle. There were tiny circles in the platform beneath her feet, for example, or rectangles outlined in the rungs of a ladder.

Playgrounds are also great places to teach the concept of counting. “How many times can you go down the slide?” I asked her. With each whoosh down, we counted. One time! Two times! Three times!

Or count the steps your toddler climbs, the bars on the monkey bars, the number of swings…

…or the keys on a giant xylophone (and hey, more rectangles)!

This simple game is a great way to make math an everyday concept for your little one.