Exposing chiuldren to numbers early through counting and number games males them familiar with numbers from a young age.  Numbers are very important to a child's education and so many children 'struggle', but it needn't be like this.  Numbers are all around us and simply becoming familiar with numbers when they are little, is the best way to get a head start and give your children confidence for later life.  Most importantly, you don't need to be a maths genius yourself!  If you make it fun, they won't even know they are learning.

Here are a few number and counting games to introduce numbers in your everyday life:

Count things: How many pototoes on to a plate?  How many stairs as you walk up, grapes as you eat them?

Spot numbers: When you are out, look at door numbers, telephone numbers, car number plates, prices in shops and other numbers that can be observed all around.

Number games: Count the flowers in the garden, throw socks into a basket and count as you go, count how long it takes to run from one end of the garden to the other.

Number songs: Sing number songs like Once I Caught A Fish Alive, Five Fat Sausages and Ten Green Bottles.

Count your shopping:  How many pieces of fruit in the basket?  How many boxes in the trolley? Play shops at home too and count, make price tags and add up the food  you buy together.

Get cooking: Measure and weigh the ingredients, count the paper cake cases, time the cooking, give 20 stirs with a wooden spoon.

Measure things: How tall is the chair?  How tall is you child, or a teddy or the book shelf?

Get cleaning: Get your children to wipe the tables 20 times, dust the book shelf 15 times, splash the outside chairs with bubbly water 10 times.

Washing up: Count and clean the plastic cups and plates and do the washing up at the same time.  How many are in the bowl, how many are drying, how many are clean?

Have fun!

Here are some fresh ideas to keep your kids occupied in the garden.  Get the little ones helping with some unusual tasks like picking fruit (if you have some!) or pulling the heads off dandelions and other weeds.  Build a camp by draping an old sheet over a bush or some garden furniture.  You're young ones will love to hide from you, and have their own 'house' to play in!  Fill some buckets with water, grab some big decorating paint brushes and get them painting the (outside!) walls of your house, garden shed, garage or patio!  Older children could try painting letters or numbers or shapes on the wall.   Doing tasks like this - and using grown-up tools - is great fun for little ones and getting wet is always appealing for them too!