Simple Matching Games for Toddlers (Teaching Letters and Numbers)

I have mentioned in my previous posts on our letter of the week program that on top of these activities, I also let my toddler (2-year-old) play some matching games to help reinforce the lessons we have on letters and numbers.

 

Let me share with you some of these simple games which are so easy to prepare and are so easy to grasp by toddlers.

 

1. Matching letters and toys - We use small foam letters here. We began with the letters of my toddler's first name (MATEO). I noticed when we were still starting with our alphabet lessons that my toddler's attention wanders away after a few minutes when we use all flash cards or when we use all the foam letters to study the alphabet. Good thing I read in several blogs by other moms that it's more helpful and easier for a child to begin studying the letters of his/her name first. That way, the child does not get overwhelmed with the need to recognize too many letters right away.

 

So, I chose some of my toddler's favorite toys that start with the letters of his first name. (Mango, apple, tomato, eggplant and orange to match the letters MATEO). I showed him first how to match them correctly, sounding out the letters and the names of the toys and matching them with each other.

Then, I mix up the toys and the letters and ask my toddler son to match them. I began with arranging the letters correctly and asked my child to match the plastic toys. He easily learned the letters of his name through this matching game. I was also glad that I was inspired to use his favorite toys since this made the game more interesting for him.

Mateo matches the toys to the foam letters of his name.

When I saw that he got this correctly, I then mixed up the letters and arranged the plastic toys in order. My son also answered it correctly even when we played the matching game in reverse.

 

After playing this matching game for a couple of weeks, we tried asking my toddler to match the plastic toys with the letters in his puzzle mat. This time, all the letters of the alphabet were there already and they were arranged in order. My son was still able to find the letters of his name after some tries. When I noticed that he still gets a bit confused with a lot of letters, we limited the letters again to his first name. After practicing by playing this matching game for a number of days again, we let him try finding the letters of his name again with the entire alphabet puzzle mat laid out. This time, he was able to answer correctly even with his first try.

 

2. Matching flash cards and clothes pins with letters - I got this idea in another blog. It's so simple and budget-friendly as well. We still have a lot of wooden clothes pins at home so I adapted this activity right away as soon as I learned about it.

 

You simply need a permanent marker, clothes pins and flash cards. Again, we began with the letters of my toddler's first name (MATEO) to prevent overwhelm and confusion. I wrote one letter per clothes pin and separated the flash cards with the letters of his name. I showed him how to match them correctly, sounding out the letters and showing him the clothes pins with the corresponding letters. I mixed up the flash cards and clothes pins again and asked my son to match them to each other. At first, I asked my toddler to clip the clothes pins to the flash cards.

Then, when I found some yarn and a place in the house where we can hang our "toys," I asked him to hang the flash cards there as he plays this matching game.



Mateo hanging his flash cards using the clothes pins with the letters of his name.
 



My toddler happy and proud of his accomplishment!

  

3. Matching DIY Thomas and Friends trains and clothes pins with numbers - My toddler son loves Thomas and Friends so much that I try to connect as much homeschool lessons as I can with this character. Since I'm also teaching him numbers and helping him to become more familiar with them, I thought of using the character of Thomas and Friends for this lesson. The trains in this series have numbers so I researched the names and colors of the trains and began with the first 10 trains in the series to help my toddler become more familiar with numbers 1 to 10.

 

I asked the help of my two sons in this homeschool project. They helped me make the trains. I cut the rectangles from the scrap colored papers that we have while they traced circles and painted them to become the wheels of the trains. Then, I numbered the trains based on the story of Thomas and Friends. Next, I introduced them to my toddler son and pointed out the numbers of the trains.

 

Then, I wrote one number on each clothes pins again using a permanent marker. I read out the numbers to my son and asked him to match the clothes pins with numbers to the trains with numbers on their bodies. Like with our matching game with the letters of his name, at first I asked him to clip the clothes pins to the trains.

Our DIY Thomas and Friends homeschool project.

Then, when we had a yarn set up near our hallway, I asked him to hang the trains in the yarn as he plays this matching game. My son found this game interesting and fun. It's a short game but very effective in teaching him to recognize numbers. It's also very simple and easy to prepare.

Mateo matches the clothes pins with numbers to our DIY trains.

Mateo with Thomas and Friends, our version. ;)

 

If you have a son who also likes trains or the character of Thomas and Friends, I highly recommend this matching game to you and your son when learning numbers and colors. 

Here are names and numbers of the trains in this series:

1 - Thomas, blue
2 - Edward, blue
3 - Henry, green
4 - Gordon, blue
5 - James, red
6 - Percy, green
7 - Toby, brown
8 - Doc, green
9 - Donald, black
10 - Douglas, black

These are the simple activities that we do on top of our letter of the week activities. Based on our experience, they are effective ways to reinforce the lessons that my toddler learns in our letter of the week activities. Feel free to use the same activities in teaching your little ones if you think they would also work in your family.