Medical expert of the article
New publications
How do you teach a child to count?
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025

All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Learning to count for children is a real achievement for little ones. Many parents wonder how to teach a child to count? There is a whole system in this matter that parents should adhere to so that the learning process is fast and joyful.
Childhood memory
Children's memory is very complex. Little ones remember the information that they liked, that interested them, perhaps even scared them. If your lessons with your child bring them joy, you will not even notice how they will master the science of counting. Even linguists claim that when learning any language, numerals are the easiest to remember.
Benefits of learning to count
It is much easier to do math than to read scientific literature and memorize complex abbreviations while sitting at a table for hours. You can count everywhere, you should always count. Your child can count in kindergarten, during walks in the fresh air, at home, when visiting - everywhere. Even when dressing, you can count the number of socks on or buttons on a shirt. If you teach children from an early age, their brains develop physically, they become more efficient and inquisitive.
How to learn to count?
First, we need to clearly distinguish what is a digit and what is a number. A digit is, for example, 1, 3, 5, 10, a digit means quantity. And a number is the number of objects. There can be three or five objects.
You can tell your child that he will get 5 spoons of food for breakfast and you need to help the baby count them one by one.
When you go to the store with your child, tell him what you are going to buy, count the number of purchases with your child. Ask him to remind you what exactly and how many goods you need to buy together in the store.
Workout for baby
A wonderful training for a toddler will be a game of store, and the currency can be any: buttons, coins, various small objects of the same type. It will be great to play with candy wrappers or just write numbers on pieces of paper. By the way, children aged three really like the process of paying. They get carried away by this action and instantly learn to count.
You can also divide apples into parts, candies, bananas or any product that your child likes to eat. Ask the baby how many parts will go to mom, dad, cat or any family member.
The main thing is that the child understands that if he has, for example, a car or a doll in each hand, then these are two dolls or cars.
Cards
You can cut out cardboard cards that will be approximately 25x25 centimeters. On these cards, draw dots or circles with a felt-tip pen. Take one card and draw two dots on it, two dots on another, three dots on the third. In this way, you can change the cards in any order and there can be as many of these cards as you like. The child will try to count both the number of cards and the number of circles, and you will help him with this.
You can teach a child to take away in the same way. Put two cards in front of him, ask how many there are, and then take one away. Let him say that there is one card left. If the child finds it difficult, prompt him and under no circumstances scold him if he forgets something or does not succeed. The main thing is desire and interest. If you interest the child, he will be the first to prompt you how many cards are left.
The main thing is patience
Over time, your child will learn more complex calculations, but the main thing is to teach the child to count. If he understands the principle, then everything will work out for him. Encourage the baby with tasty food that he likes. Then the child will be interested in doing mathematics.