Out We Go! (0-2)

It may be odd to use the outdoors to develop math skills but, for children between the ages of 0-2, being outside is just the right amount of sensory experience and will help their overall development. We should try to take children outside often.

When children this young are taken outside they observe their world and experience new things. We should talk to them about what they see: name objects, point out colors and shapes, and even count the objects you see. By the age of two children may even be able to tell you what they notice about the world around them.

To make going outside more involved, point things out to children when you are outside with them. It may also be beneficial to point out more mathematical things: in the Fall point out leaves and the change of colors, the symmetry between both sides of a leaf, in the Winter talk about the shape of snowflakes, in the Spring, talk about the different colors of flowers and the patterns that they may have, and in the Summer talk about the sunshine, summer rains, and things at the beach.