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We recently received this BigJigs Learn to Count toy from the Wooden Toy Shop.
This is an awesome toy to introduce your pre-schooler to basic maths skills. With this toy, the child is supposed to match the colour and quantity of the thick colourful wooden discs to the key on the sturdy solid-wood board.
My son, Derin is barely 2.5 years old and he has so much to learn with this toy. He loves stacking the wooden discs on the pegs which improves his dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
But because he is so young, we generally play with it together.
I pass the wooden discs to him whilst counting to stack them on the peg. This way he learns the relationship between quantity and numbers.
I like that the toy also includes the number zero and he learns that zero=nothing. The counting is reinforced with the dots on the board under each of the wooden number "cards".
The toy is also good for teaching colours. I like that the colours are degraded so we can talk about the different shades of the colours: light green, dark blue etc.
My five year old daughter, of course, knows her numbers and colours but still enjoys playing with this toy. She has found some great activities that she can do with the discs:
She likes threading the discs on a string. Baby brother likes copying him but a threading on a skill is a bit fiddly for him. So I tie a knot at the end of a pipe cleaner and voila, he can thread too!
The discs are also great for simple mathematics problems (addition and subtraction) and patterning. Patterning is a basic maths skill upon which many mathematical concepts are built upon (ie skip counting, multiplication, addition). Children can create different patterns or shapes with these colourful discs.
We also used the discs for some simple addition and subtraction exercises.
At £14.95 including delivery, this must be one of the best educational toys in the market. Great for pre-schoolers and beyond!
I highly recommend it.
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