Just like reading, having competency with numbers will be a great boon to kids as they grow and are exposed to new things to learn and experience! A solid understanding of arithmetic and mathematics will help your child in almost every aspect of their life, but slow down! Before we get to the multiplication tables and fractions and trig, we need to start with the absolute fundamentals: counting, and an interest in numbers and how they relate to each other. This is the foundation that every other math skill is built on, and kids can start with this at a very young age. We’re no experts at this (or anything else *awkward laugh*), but we do have a three year-old who is excited about learning and numbers and an 18-month old that’s well on his way!
Here are some simple ideas to get your child’s brain working and growing without them even noticing that they’re learning!
9 Ideas for Introducing Math Concepts
1. Count everything. Seriously everything – legs on the dog, berries on their plate, or items in your shopping cart. (I love this as an easy way to distract a grouchy kid, too!)
2. Play. Whether its Mega Bloks, cars, stuffed animals, an abacus, or MathLink cubes, introduce numbers to your child’s play. You can ask, “How high can we build this tower? 10 blocks? 20 blocks?” or “What happens when we put these 3 yellow blocks and 2 blue blocks together? How many do we have now?” “This truck has 5 cars on it. What if one car falls off? Now how many are there?”
Have your child help in the kitchen. My three year-old loves to help me dump measuring cups or eggs into mixing bowls and count how many we’ve done and how many we have left for a recipe. As he’s gotten older, we have started introducing very basic fraction ideas with measuring spoons and food portions as well.
5. Talk about age. Beyond counting objects, talking about age can help a child compare numbers. They may get excited to talk about the following: “Dad is 28, and I am 3. 28 is bigger than 3, so Dad is older than me!” or “3 is bigger than 1 so I am older than my baby brother!”
6. Point out numbers in the world around you. Crosswalk countdowns, road signs, price tags, weight on a scale, etc. This helps bring numbers to life and helps your child grasp that numbers and counting exist in the world, not just in your conversations at home.
7. Board games. When developmentally appropriate, board and card games can be a great way to stretch your child’s quantitative reasoning skills. A great one to start is Candy Land! We have also played simplified versions of Yahtzee, Blockus, Splendor, War, and other games with our three year-old. He loves the one-on-one time and feeling “big” when he gets to learn games that were previously off-limits.
8. Make it into art. Have your child do a coloring book page, use dot markers, or make a collage to get familiar with each numeral.
9. Memorize a parent’s phone number. Beyond the very practical safety applications of this, your child will learn that numbers can be assigned to things besides quantities of objects and they will likely think it’s so neat when you let them dial a number on a phone and see that it actually calls someone!
There are so many ways to encourage learning about numbers and basic math that don’t require a single flashcard! Letting your child learn from the world around them will ignite interest and comprehension with less effort and more fun. So keep it simple! What ways of teaching your child about numbers have been successful and fun for you and your family? Share in the comments below!
The dread. The horror. I was so not excited to potty train our oldest because I always assumed it would be incredibly hard and never actually end. I expected there to be bodily fluids (and solids) on my floor 24-7. But I am here to tell you that it wasn’t as bad as I had feared! We got through it and so can you! Everyone’s experience and child is different, but I truly believe the method we use can help anyone.
Choosing the Oh Crap! Approach
At one of our well child visits, our pediatrician recommended the book Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Rightby Jamie Glowacki. He told us that he had used this method with his own kids and that it could help us be done with potty training in a mere weekend. We trust and value his opinion, so we started looking into buying the book. Within a short period of time, multiple friends of ours also recommended the book, saying that it had worked well for them. So we had no reason to doubt! And now we, too, can testify that this method worked for us.
*Note: We used the 2015 edition but a new edition is being released in 2024!
What is the Oh Crap! Approach?
To oversimplify it, Jamie Glowacki’s approach to potty training is a block (or level) system in which your child gradually learns to recognize the urge to go and independently uses a toilet. Each block can be as long or as short as your child needs to master that particular skill. The author recommends that parents start potty training when their child is 20-30 months old and really emphasizes that your child is probably ready before you think they are. The book discusses how potty training is something your child really deserves to learn for the sake of their own autonomy and dignity. And think about how much you’ll save on diapers! The Oh Crap! method is completely bribery-free, which helps kids develop intrinsic motivation to take this big developmental step. And you don’t have to wean your kid off of stickers or treats every time they pee!
Block 1
In Block 1, your kiddo essentially hangs out (ha!) at home naked, at least on the bottom half. You keep a close eye on your kid, periodically reminding them to use the potty (but not too often!). As you remain focused on them throughout the day (or days), you take mental note of their potty cues, or their physical “tells” that let you know they’ve gotta go.
In this block, you should be prepared to clean up a few accidents. It will very likely happen that your kid will start peeing, and you rush them to the toilet, leaving a trail in your wake. And that’s okay! You gently remind your child that pee and poop go in the potty. Your child will likely respond with some form of disgust at making that mess, which works to your benefit, because they will start learning how to avoid it happening again. As time goes on, your child will start to recognize their body’s cues and take preemptive steps to avoid accidents. We were amazed how fast our son started paying attention to his body and rocked this block!
Block 2
Once your child is proficient with block 1, (they successfully use the potty with reminders and rarely have accidents) they move on to block 2! Block 2 is similar to block 1, but instead of being naked, your child is now going commando (pants, but no underwear). This gives your child the opportunity to practice their new skills, but with the added complexity of removing clothing first. Going commando still feels a lot like being naked though, so that encourages your child to continue paying attention to their body’s cues and not get too careless.
Block 3
Time to take your kid’s new talent for a spin. Block three is when you venture out for small outings with your child. When I say small, I mean small. I’m talking 10-minute walk around the block or coming with you to drop off another child at school. You really need to work up to outings that are longer.
Block 4
When your child has mastered going commando and small outings, it’s time to add underwear. Underwear can be tricky, because all of a sudden, it kind of feels like a diaper again, and that may mean your child reverts to old habits. This type of regression is one of the times you’ll be glad you got the book (please, please read the book!). The author walks you through a ton of different what-ifs, regressions, and resistance you may face during the process.
Block 5
This is when your child really is getting it down. They now recognize their body’s cues consistently, can hold it in for longer periods of time, and self-initiate using the potty–that is, they don’t rely on reminders from you.
Block 6
Oh, I didn’t mention naps and bedtime? That’s because that’s actually block 6. The book walks through different ways to approach this hurdle, and there’s a lot of variation in how kids handle it. You can start tackling nap and nighttime potty training on day one, or you can have your child wear a diaper/pull-up exclusively for sleeping until you’re ready to take this next step. One of my favorite things I read in this book is the author’s opinion to always prioritize sleep. For instance, if you’re waking up multiple times in the night to care for a newborn, night training may need to wait so that you can get the rest you need. Or you might just get lucky and have a child like ours that kinda-sorta night-trained himself.
Toddler Potty or Real Toilet?
We opted for having our son use the real toilet as opposed to the toddler potties that sit on the floor. My main reason was simply that I didn’t want to clean up the mess (which I think is a dang good reason). But I also liked that we didn’t have to transition from the baby potty to a real toilet or make extra space in our home for another big item. To make using the toilet easier, we purchased little toilet seats like this one to fit the toilets in our home. I even purchased a foldable travel seat that I brought with me in the first few weeks of potty training and I still bring on vacations. One of our toilets even has a toilet seat/lid with a toddler seat built in! This is definitely the most aesthetically pleasing option. If you go the toilet seat route, you’ll probably also need to purchase a small stool so your child can reach the toilet. I have no regrets with going with the toilet seats and plan to do the same thing with our future potty-trainers. One note though: don’t forget to wipe the toilet down before guests arrive! 😅
Our Experience
We were seriously so relieved that potty training went so well for us. We started our son at about 32 months, so actually a little bit later than the book recommends! But we found that he was totally ready and willing.
Potty training went pretty smoothly for us for the first three blocks. On the first day, we confined our son to one room that was close to a bathroom and laid blankets out over the carpet and furniture to contain any accidents. I followed the book’s instructions carefully and we had a great day playing together with only a couple spills. He learned so fast!
We started having some regression when it was time to put the undies on. The author was right – the tight, cozy feeling of underwear really does simulate a diaper and muscle memory kicks in. But with patience and some extra reminders, we got over this hurdle in a few days.
We had what I think is a fairly uncommon experience with nap and night training. We put a pull-up on our son the first few sleeps, but kept finding that the pull-up was still dry when he woke up. It only took a couple days for him to start asking to wear underwear to bed, and we let him. He had remarkable success, with maybe 2 accidents a week or so for the first couple weeks. From what I’ve heard from other parents, this is not the typical experience though! What I hear from my friends is that their kids (particularly sons) need to wear pull-ups to bed for quite some time after mastering the rest of potty training. The book has lots of information about how to help kids develop their ability to hold it at night!
For the couple months or so, we did have occasional accidents, even when our son had been doing well for quite some time. I think this is to be expected while your child learns to gain complete awareness and control of their body.
Now, our son is three-and-a-half years old and never has accidents. We’ve taken him on trans-Pacific flights, through Thailand, camping, and on car rides up to 4 hours long. He’s done amazing! We’ve gotten used to noticing where bathrooms are when we’re traveling or in public so that we can get to a toilet quickly if he needs one, but he’s gotten good enough that he can usually make it for a few minutes after realizing he needs to go.
Some Quick Tips
Kids can smell fear. If you believe they won’t succeed, they will manifest that belief. Keep a smile on your face and believe in your child. This is an exciting step in their lives!
Expect some setbacks, but don’t be afraid of them. On a similar thread, don’t lose your cool everytime something goes wrong. Setbacks are part of the learning process for both you and your child!
You really do need to watch your child like a hawk for the first couple blocks. If you’re not watching closely, you will miss their cues, and you’ll have more messes to clean. You’ll also slow down the process.
Be prepared. When you leave the house with your child, keep an extra change of clothes on hand, a travel seat, plastic bag, and you can even line the carseat with a cloth diaper!
Read the book for heaven’s sake! She knows what she’s talking about!
Now that I’ve shared my experience, here’s what I need to know: how have you guys gotten over the hurdle of wiping your child’s bum after number 2? One year after potty training and I am so afraid of what the consequences may be if I trust my child to do this himself, but I am so over doing it for him. Help! I want to hear your experiences!
I love toys. I think I love toys as much as my sons do. Toy shopping for Christmas and birthdays is so fun for me, and I have such a hard time holding myself back! But I am also pretty conscientious about what toys I choose for our boys, so I’m here to tell you what toys I feel have definitely been worth having around! None of these products are sponsored in any way, and once again – I’m not here to influence you to do or buy anything! But if you’re looking for gift ideas or just honest reviews, you’re in the right place.
What I Look For in a Great Toy
Promotes open-ended and imaginative play
Child psychologist Jean Piaget said, “Play is the work of children,” and I couldn’t agree more! I believe kids need toys that encourage thinking. Toys like blocks, dolls, vehicles, and role-playing props all promote healthy imaginative play and even help develop empathy and critical thinking. Toys that I feel don’t do this as well are ones that have buttons and such that give immediate audio/visual feedback – bright lights and songs. I’m looking for toys that are versatile and push my kids to be creative.
Sturdy construction and materials
There’s something so satisfying about holding a well-made toy. They bring back a sense of childlike giddiness in me! Toys that cheaply made just don’t bring me that sense of joy, and they have a significantly shorter lifespan than the good toys. I want our toys to have long, happy lives, so I typically opt for ones that are made from wood, metal, and/or high-quality (often recycled) plastic. I especially appreciate brands that make toys that are tough enough to handle the abuse kids put them through, and don’t have stickers or paint that chips and fades. I want my toys to be passed down when my kids are done with them, not end up in a landfill within a year!
No Batteries / Low Noise
Mostly for my own sanity, I try to avoid toys that require batteries. I don’t want to hear the loud noises they make, I don’t want to go through the trouble to replace dead batteries, and I definitely don’t want to keep buying expensive batteries! I also just believe that the loud, bright toys don’t require as much mental exercise to play with, so they aren’t doing my kids many favors when it comes to brain development. There are some toys that are cool enough to make exceptions to this rule. For example, I wanted to get my kids a toy cash register to promote imaginative store play, but I opted for a register with batteries this time to allow the toy to function as a calculator and encourage an interest in math.
Aesthetically Pleasing
Let’s be real – these toys aren’t always going to be tucked away discreetly in beautiful bins like we see on pinterest (and they shouldn’t, because I want them to be played with!). They’re going to be out and about, and I’m going to be looking at them all the time. So while I don’t buy toys for their aesthetic appeal, I stay away from toys that look tacky, cheap, or just plain ugly.
Easy to Store / Not a Lot of Small Pieces
This is mostly just a bonus. I love toys that are self-contained so that they’re easy to keep track of and put away. One example is this shape sorter from Green Toys – I love that the shapes all fit inside to clean up easily! Plus, with a baby around, I try to limit the choking hazards we have in the house, so tiny pieces are a no-no unless they can be played with in a very isolated environment (eg. Legos that stay out of reach of babies).
Favorite toy brands
There are so many good brands out there. These are just a few that we have experience with and have loved!
Green Toys – This is my all-time favorite toy brand. All of their toys are made from 100% recycled plastic that is extremely durable, and they have minimal, frustration-free packaging. The toys never have paint, screws, or stickers, so they are incredibly safe for kids of all ages and still look brand new after years of heavy use. We especially love their vehicles! Not a day goes by that my boys do not play with Green Toys.
Melissa and Doug – They make such a wide variety of toys that encourage learning and imagination. They are typically high quality materials, battery-free, and very aesthetically pleasing.
Hape & Manhattan Toy – again, these brands just tend to make good, simple toys out of good materials.
Fat Brain – These can be pricey, but I find that they are just delightfully simple and fun toys that are very well-made. When they design a new toy, knock-offs show up pretty quick but they are never quite as good quality.
We love to buy from local toy stores and artisans when we can! We’ve bought little wood trucks and even 3D-printed toys from local markets. We love how unique and special they are, and supporting small businesses is an added bonus!
Our favorite toys for 3 and under
Train table and wooden train tracks – we got ours second-hand (which I highly recommend) but having seen how much our boys love it and consistently play with it, I’d buy it full price if I had to. The only hard part about it is how much space it takes up! Right now, that’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make since it gets so much use, but I imagine that once our boys get older, we’ll part with the table and just keep the train set itself and store it in a bin. Ours is Imaginarium brand, but there are lots of great alternatives!
Mega blocks – so versatile and great for kids of all ages. An absolute staple in our toy collection.
Green Toys trucks (and everything else) – see my raving review of this brand above. I seriously cannot overexpress how much we love these toys! I highly recommend buying them on Amazon when they’re on sale–you can get them for really cheap if you keep your eyes open!
Ball slide – this is not the most ‘high quality’ toy as far as construction and materials go, but it has been a hit at our house for 3 years straight and has lasted this long. Our boys started playing with it at around 6 months old and have never stopped.
SpinAgain – this is a Fat Brain toy, but we opted for a significantly cheaper off-brand. Our 3 year-old and our 1-year old both love it. It looks cute on display and is absolutely mesmerizing to play with.
Matchbox cars / hot wheels – Obviously these are pretty ubiquitous, classic toys, but I’d be remiss to leave them out. We have a bin of these, and they end up all over the house because they are played with constantly. I keep some in the diaper bag, and they go everywhere with us. They get pulled out at restaurants, church, everywhere.
Tonka dump truck – we made sure to get a sturdy metal one, and ours stays in the garage / outside. T loves to use his garden tools to fill it with dirt, rocks, snow – everything.
Water Wow books – These are great for at home or traveling! The well-designed water brush reveals fun pictures in the book, which dries and can be done over and over again with no mess!
Alphabet / number puzzles – Our three year-old is already reading, and I think that we can attribute some of that to the early exposure he had to the alphabet thanks to these puzzles! They really helped foster a love of learning the alphabet and numbers.
Magnetic tiles – We went with an off-brand on this one and have no regrets! These are so fun for kids and adults. We love the train cars that come with our set.
Abacus – I absolutely love how this toy looks on display in my boys’ room. I also love that it can be used as a more of a fidget toy/rattle for babies and can actually be used for learning about math with older kids!
Cash register – I have this one wrapped under the Christmas tree right now, but I am so excited for the boys to play with it! I can’t give a full review just yet, but I love that this one functions as a calculator and has an item scanner attached.
Beach balls – a simple toy, but so important in our house! I bought a big pack off of Amazon and my boys just love throwing, kicking, hitting, and chasing them around inside the house. I keep two of them out at a time and replace them as they get popped with rough play. Beach balls are the best for not wrecking your house while the kiddos play!
This cardboard box. It’s been sitting in our family room for months, and the boys are always playing in it. They build magnet tile creations in there, fill it with pillows, use it to build forts, pretend it’s a car, color on it with markers… the list goes on.
We don’t have a huge house, so we take our choices of the items we buy seriously so as to not waste space and money. We have absolutely loved these toys and would recommend them to anyone. What toys have you loved for your kiddos? Leave a comment below!
Click here to see our post about our favorite baby toys! (coming soon)
If we communicate anything on this blog, we want it to be that kids are always learning as long as you give them opportunities to do so, and it doesn’t need to be complicated! Recently we went on a trip to Iowa and Illinois to visit family and were amazed at how many new things T was exposed to and learned about while we were in a place some may not consider particularly exciting. We really didn’t go through any special effort to make this a “field trip”, but it definitely became an age-appropriate learning experience nonetheless!
Not-so-Everyday Sights
Where we live, there are no water towers (thanks, mountains!) and we don’t see a lot of large-scale agriculture, so something as simple as pointing out all the water towers we passed became a fun game for T. He had so many questions to ask about what they were and how they worked. He loved seeing all the big farm equipment too – proof that all the books he loves are talking about real vehicles! We also had the opportunity to see a bunch of (adorable) windmills, another cool thing he’d never seen before.
Helping in the garden
One of T’s favorite things about this trip was helping out in our family’s abundant garden. It was time to do autumn chores, so he got to help plant some fall seeds, put yard waste in the compost bin, and harvest sunflower seeds from the giant flowers! He likes to work in our little garden at home, but these were new and exciting tasks he had never done before! He didn’t want to come in when the work was done.
Nauvoo, Illinois
We took a day trip to Nauvoo, Illinois to see some historical sites significant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the pioneers who lived there. On the drive there, T got to see his first swing bridge (in action!) and watch a tug boat pass it. There were so many cool activities to do in Nauvoo, and they were all free! In our short time there, we and the kids learned how the pioneers made rope, candles, bricks, barrels, and textiles, and we got to participate in making some of them too! We also rode in a wagon pulled by oxen (which we learned are actually just well-trained cows), visited some grave sites, and barely scratched the surface of all there is to see and do there. We spent a little bit of time inside the Nauvoo Temple and told T about how this was one of the first temples built. Then we headed to Carthage to see Carthage Jail, the place where Joseph Smith (the first president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) was martyred. While our littles couldn’t really appreciate the significance of these locations yet, doing some hands-on activities was great for them. T is still too young to understand why this particular temple is so special, but we could still use the opportunity to let him see our love for temples and help him see that people worship in temples all around the world, not just where we live. This was something we talked about on our recent trip to Thailand as well!
Always Learning
At only 3 and 1, our kids can only digest so much information, so we didn’t feel it was necessary to do much preparation or lecturing. We loved watching them discover and try new things and just see more of the world! They pick up bits of knowledge and experience everywhere they go. Keep doing fun things and keep talking to them, and you’ll be surprised how much they are learning!
We have tried to instill a love of reading in our kids starting pretty young. From the time we moved T into his own bedroom at about 4 months old, we’ve been reading at least one book to him before every nap and bedtime. We’ve loved seeing T develop a love for reading, so we’re trying to do the same thing with little E, who is 1 right now. Here are some of our favorites – ones the kids like and that mom and dad can enjoy too! These have varying length and complexity, but they’re all beloved by our kids ages 3 and under. You may notice that our boys have some favorite topics, ha!
Adorable little story that teaches that little kids can be helpful and important, even if they can’t do all the things that big people do. We love that it’s a quick read with really well-done illustrations!
To the little tot that’s obsessed with trains, this one’s for you. I remember reading it as a child and my mom would always encourage us by saying, “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.” Such a cute, classic story! We have probably read this one to T 100 times, no joke. He can’t get enough of it.
This classic book didn’t win a Caldecott medal for nothing. I find the words, pictures, and story to be mesmerizing, and every time I read it, it gets me thinking about different ways to interpret it. Kids just think it’s fun!
We love that this Dr. Suess book is simple, repetitive, and silly, but our favorite thing is that it encourages kids to try foods they assume they won’t like!
These are so simple, they seemed kind of boring to us at first, but T went through a long phase of being obsessed with them. What 2 / 3 year old cares to read about general relativity, Newtonian physics, organic chemistry, and electromagnetism (to name a few)? Plus, they’re super fun to display on a shelf so all your guests assume your kid’s in MENSA or something.
This one by P.D. Eastman is fun for teaching prepositions, and kids that are pretty little can use the pictures to figure out which words are coming next!
This has a bunch of cute poems about different vehicles, from backhoes to ambulances. If you read it all at once, it’s a tiny bit lengthy, but you can always choose to read only a few poems!
I like to read this book to T when a) he’s had a naughty day, b) I’ve been impatient with him, or c) both. It’s a good way for us to bond and remind each other how much we love each other, especially on the rough days.
Another oldy, but goody! Okay, so the mom crawling through her adult son’s window is pretty weird. But the overarching sentiment is really sweet! This is another great bonding book. T loves it when I sing the song to him as we read.
This one is just super silly. We love to laugh about it with T, and we like normalizing some talk about underwear for kiddies that will be potty training soon!
Probably one of the most precious, must-read books for kids. It makes me cry every time. An incredible allegory for children (and adults!) to internalize their relationship with God and recognize their self-worth.
T loves this book, but frankly we’ve never read the entire thing to him. It’s pretty lengthy and intended for kids that are a little bit older, so we abridge it. T loves opening all the little envelopes and reading the letters, as well as learning all the landmarks on the world map. Thanks to this book, he knows about the Eiffel Towel, Pyramids, Tower Bridge, and lots more!
Some books we love for babies – but older kids love them too!
T loved this book when he was little, and now E is obsessed with it too! We read it to a little tune we made up, and they love when we touch their ears and nose and tickle their toes!
I love this book’s illustrations! It also has such a nice rhythm to it and does a great job incorporating train sounds into the bedtime poem. Our kids have adored it since they were tiny.
I just am obsessed with his artwork! And definitely have an attachment to his classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?. Kids love them all!
I think kids’ books are so dang fun, I have a hard time not buying them all. If you’re like me, ThriftBooks is your friend!! And don’t forget to utilize your local library 🙂
