Fun Math Activities with Toys

I am a blog ambassador for Lakeshore and am compensated for my work. I received product free of charge, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

You’re going to love these fun math activities

There’s this crazy idea that you need to have special school materials at home if you want to teach your child. That you need to turn your house into a mini-classroom so your child will learn. This isn’t true! You can do so many fun math activities at home with toys.

I’m all about toys that teach. It’s super important to me that the toys my kids play with can double as learning materials. I want to get the most life out of each toy we have.

These fun math activities use the coolest toys

I grabbed three of our favorite toys to show you just how versatile toys can be. You’ll be shocked by how much learning you can do with a simple toy.

Counting Numbers with Toys

This is a favorite fun math activity in our house and so easy to set up.

I grabbed my Puzzle Builders from Lakeshore and a sheet of paper. I quickly wrote out the numbers 1 – 10 and cut them into squares. I lined up the numbers and had my kids (ages 2.5 and 4) work to show how many each number is.

My 2.5 year old handled numbers 1-5. This is perfect for her and lots of counting work. Plus having to link together the Puzzle Builders, adding a fun fine motor skills element.

Once she finished her numbers, my 4 year old started his half: numbers 6-10. I only had each child do half because it’s a lot of pieces to count and can get fatiguing. It’s so important with at home math activities to watch for frustration level and fatigue.

Making a Toy Graph

I love making graphs with my kids – it’s such a quick fun math activity that packs in a lot of learning.

First, I created the simple graph out of tape on our carpet. Then, I took the Tub of Cars and Trucks and pulled out just a few. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have too many – just the right amount to hold my kids’ attention and keep them focused.

Together, they sorted out the vehicles into groups. We decided to sort the  Tub of Cars and Trucks by “type of vehicle” rather than color. Next, we lined up the graph (I took the lead on this to make sure things stayed nice and even).

Then we sat together and talked about the graph. Being able to answer questions about a graph is a big skill for kids later. Here, I asked them simple questions like “Which column has the most?” “Which has the least?” “How many wagons are there?” “Which two have the same amount?”.

Sorting Toys into Groups

Sorting is one of my favorite skills for kids to work on because it invites so much brain work: analyzing data, looking at attributes, and comparing objects.

I grabbed out our Button Size-Sorting Box and some plates for this math activity. There are so many different ways to sort – don’t just stick with one way. In this activity, we first sorted by shapes.

After that, we sorted the buttons by size. I made sure to call out the math words “large” and “small”.

Finally, we sorted the Button Size-Sorting Box buttons by color.

Making Patterns with Toys

Colored toys are great to use for making patterns. The goal of pattern activities is to answer the all important question “What comes next?”.

I love leaving simple patterns for my four year old to finish. Using the Puzzle Builders, he was able to finish an AB pattern, ABB pattern and even an ABC pattern.

After making all his patterns, he decided to hook the Puzzle Builders together into one big puzzle piece.

Fun math activities can be done with awesome toys!

It’s easy to do  fun math activities when you have the right kind of open ended toys at home. I always find the best toys for playing and learning at Lakeshore. These toys are teacher designed and kid tested – full of educational value and tons of fun.

Looking to grab some toys for fun math activities with your child? Use this 20% off coupon from Lakeshore Learning! To learn more about Lakeshore, find them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.