My younger kids (6, 4, and 4) are loving number games right now, so we’ve been playing Tiny Polka Dot every day. It’s a whole bunch of games/activities for varying ages and abilities all in one cute box.
The box includes 6 “suits” of cards with numbers 0-10 in each suit. The cards are big and very sturdy and the colors are so bright and beautiful.
This variation they’re playing is just a matching game – they take turns finding the matching numbers between the two suits. Each suit has a different way of visually presenting the numbers so they get lots of counting practice.
They usually start out taking turns but then just race to see who can get the most matches. We switch up the suits so it stays interesting and with 6 different suits, there are many different possible combinations.
My 6 year old is obviously at a more advanced number sense/skill level so he likes to play another variation – using 0-5 of two suits, mix and match numbers to make a sum of 5. A green 4 and an orange 1, for example. They are good at taking turns and like to play over and over, making 5 all the different ways they can think of.
The possibilities for fun number and adding games is really endless. We love that this simple box can create so many super educational opportunities for these super kids!
