Your Child Will Learn
How to count 0-3 objects and know that the last number they count equals the total amount
Here’s What to Do
- When shopping with a shopping cart or basket, ask your child to keep track of how many items are in the cart.
- Before you place any items in the cart, ask: “How many things are in our cart?” (Zero!)
- Each time you add something to the cart, ask your child to count the total number of items.
- When you get to 3 items in your cart, ask your child to count other groups of 3 (like 3 bananas you’re adding to the cart, or 3 cans on the shelf).
Put PEER Into Action
PAUSE
- As you begin to shop, turn to your child, smile and announce, “Let’s play a counting game!”
ENGAGE
- “How many things are in our cart now?”
- “Let’s count these bananas together. Touch each banana as you count. One, two, three.”
ENCOURAGE
- “Oops! You didn’t count that can. Try it with me!”
- “Hmmm… you counted that twice. Let’s go slowly and count each one together, pointing to each thing as we go.”
REFLECT
- Can your child count to 3 accurately? Keep practicing and the number will get higher and higher!
Not Quite Ready
Practice counting two items instead of three.
Ready for More
Practice counting up to 5 with one-to-one correspondence.
As Your Child Masters This Skill
They will count 3 objects with accuracy.
Time to Complete
10 minutes
Materials Needed
None