Using the family/household calendar, your child will count the number of days until a special event. Your child will also begin to recognize that weeks and months are numbered sets of days.
Learning Area(s): Math
MATERIALS
- Family/household calendar (or you can draw one calendar month on paper)
LET'S PLAY
Show your child the calendar and explain what month it is. Show your child the current day of the month. Use a small drawing, sticker, or symbol to mark the date of an interesting activity for that month (e.g., a family birthday, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, or trip to the zoo). Have your child place her finger on today’s date and then count the days until the anticipated event.
Next, encourage your child to try doing this on her own, using the same month but counting to another anticipated event. Have her count from the current day.
You can also do a countdown from the current day to an anticipated day by placing an X on each day as it passes. This helps children understand the passing of time. Children love to cross out days on a calendar and count how many days are left until a special event!
TIPS
- You may need to explain to your child that each box on a calendar represents one day. The numbers start over with “1” at the beginning of each month.
- Children may be confused by the fact that as you count from today’s date to the upcoming date, your counting numbers will not match the date numbers in each box of the calendar. If this is confusing, you can cover up the calendar date numbers to help your child focus only on counting the days.
- If the task of counting many days is overwhelming, you can count aloud and help your child move her finger along the days.
- Past months can also be used (for example, “Let’s count how many days it was from your birthday to Halloween!”).