Montessori Activity: Teaching Number Recognition with Playing Cards

Age: From 3 years old

Objectives:
To teach number recognition and sequence of numbers in a fun way.

Materials:
1. Playing cards from 1 - 4

Directions:
1. Bring out 1, 2, 3 and 4 cards one at a time and point out the corresponding number on the card for your child to recognize.

2. Arrange the cards nicely in a row on ascending order on the mat.

3. Turn over one of the cards and let your child guess the number that is overturned.

4. Shuffle the cards and invite your child to arrange it in ascending order.

Tips:
Increase the complexity of the game by increasing the number of cards, once your child has mastered number recognition with 4 cards.

Cost:
Large size playing cards: 20 DKK from Tiger

Additional Information:
I got this idea from a Chinese Montessori book. I was a little hesitant to use playing cards to teach Maths, but they are typically the cards the Chinese use, when they gamble. But playing cards are very cheap and versatile to use to teach Maths. I used to have free playing cards when travelling on Singapore Airlines, but I have thrown them all away, as I don't play cards. So I bought it from Tiger.

References and Resources:
http://numeracy.cumbriagridforlearning.org.uk/getfile.php?src=673/ideas_using_playing_cards.pdf
http://www.crewtonramoneshouseofmath.com/math-with-playing-cards.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4548465_use-deck-cards-improve-math.html
http://krystald.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Use-Playing-Cards-to-Teach-Children-Addition-Facts