Veronika and I are working on the concept of making a “match”, so here was a new way to turn the idea into a game!

To start, I cut images from magazines that could be sorted into pairs. These weren’t exact copies of each other, although you could make them so if you have a double copy of one magazine. Our pictures included: 2 shoes, 2 houses, 2 chairs, 2 images of flowers, and so forth.

Glue all these images onto index cards. For a more durable version of this game, you can try a few suggestions from The Toddler’s Busy Book. One option is to cover the cards with contact paper. To take it a step further, glue each image to a round metal lid, as from a frozen juice can, before covering with contact paper.

I kept things simple with the index cards, though, and set them out in a scrambled pile in front of Veronika. Her job was to make each match! When she picked up one shoe picture, I asked, “Can you find it’s match?” She quickly did so, showing that she’s grasped the concept.

Once the cards were all sorted, she had fun simply playing with them and looking at the images for a while. Next time, I might add magnetic strips to the back of the index cards so she can move them around like magnets on the fridge.

This giant color “dice” is a fun way to play with toddlers or preschoolers for a variety of color games. Even better, all you need to make it is two upcycled cartons (I used soy milk).

Clean and dry the cartons completely, then cut each one in half. You can now nest them together so they form a perfect cube.

Cut squares of construction paper in a different color for each side, and glue onto the cube. Let dry overnight. The next morning, Veronika couldn’t wait to give the dice a few rolls the moment she spotted it.

Then we started adding in some color challenges. Depending what color landed face up on the cube, I had her run to fetch an object of that color.

Her favorite was a version where we matched the cube to crayons. After each roll, she selected a crayon from our set, and then of course wanted to color on the corresponding side of the cube. Pretty soon we had a decorated dice!

You can play lots of variations on these games, whether having your child hunt for a color object, race to see who can bring back the correct color fasted, have your child hand you a corresponding color of construction paper, and more! Next time we might try a shape cube for a shape hunt instead.

With Veronika a little under the weather, we were looking for low-key activities that would keep her engaged without much physical effort. Here are two fun ways to play with early toddler math concepts: comparing two or more things; and sorting things according to some characteristic.

First, we played a classic game of Large and Small. I gave her a set of objects from around the house, with one item big and one smaller, including: spoons, crayons, socks, and toy bunnies.

For each, she was always able to select which was bigger…

and which was smaller, with no problem.

Sometimes I mixed it up and used words like “longer” or “shorter”, to throw her a curve ball! This made her pause and think a bit longer before picking which item fit the bill.

You can then encourage your child to sort the objects into two piles, with all the big items to one side and the small items to the other. This led us right into the next game: Sticker Sorting!

This time, I taped up sheets of colored construction paper to the wall that matched a set of dot label stickers. She simply had to decide where each sticker should go.

Sometimes she wanted to cover a piece of paper with every dot in that color, as for favorites like red and purple.

Other colors she was content to put only one or two stickers.

But whether a few stickers or lots, she sorted them correctly by color each time.

Veronika was feeling a little under the weather with a sniffle today, so I was on the hunt for games we could play while cozy on the couch. What could be lazier than a lazy Susan?

If you don’t own a lazy Susan (or similar turntable in your kitchen), there’s no need to purchase one just for this game. I simply grabbed the spinning turntable out of the microwave and put it to a different use!

To set up, you’ll need a double set of images. First, I put colored dot stickers onto index cards that Veronika could hold in her hand. Then, I taped colored squares of construction paper with the same color dot sticker around the rim of the turntable, as shown below. Time to spin and make a match!

For each color in her hand, we spun the turntable around until that particular color was closest to her, and she placed down her corresponding index card.

She aced the entire test without a single error, and loved the way that the whole contraption could spin.

This was a cute way to keep her busy and squeeze in some learning while staying cozy! Don’t feel obligated to stick to dot stickers, either. Any set of matching images or objects will work for this game.

Veronika loved painting with a fly swatter last summer, and today we took that same tool and used it for a little learning instead! To start, I wrote out the alphabet on a large piece of cardboard (poster board would work too), making the letters bright and bold.

Then I simply handed over the swatter. She loves to say “splat!” every time it lands down, and I told her today we were going to “splat” the letters. We played in a few different ways. First, I asked her to swat at a specific letter, choosing those I know she is familiar with, as with S and V. She happily obliged.

Then I asked her to choose a letter, and name it for me as she swatted it. Sometimes she swatted down but stayed silent, which was a good chance to remind her the names of a few less familiar letters.

We also sang through the whole alphabet together, tapping each letter with the swatter as we sang its name.

Needless to say, she was a happy alphabet learner today!