Number Boxes with Magna Tiles-A Simple Number Recognition Activity

{This post may contain affiliate links.  This means I make a very small commission if you choose to purchase through these links.}

Over the holidays Little Miss Toddler got her first magnetic tiles play set from Magna-Tiles and I don’t know who has been more excited about them; myself, my husband, or her.  They are truly toys that will grow with her and our family and I can’t wait to continue to do more and more play activities with them.  From the moment she opened them it has been nonstop playtime.  We try and build the highest towers, my husband has created an amazing Elsa castle, and we have started to use the tiles for learning activities as well.  The first activity I wanted to share with you using our Magna-Tiles are these number boxes for beginning number recognition. 

Little Miss has become very aware of numbers in the real world, mostly counting things out and counting to twenty while playing.  We have yet to heavily practice recognizing the numbers with their amounts and I would like that to change.  Since Little Miss Toddler is now 2 1/2 years old, this is the perfect time to really engage in number recognition practice since some children begin to write numbers by age 3.  I never want to push my daughter into anything that she’s not ready for but I want to continue to expose her to activities that will be valuable for her before starting preschool.

This number boxes with magna-tiles was a very simple set up which is what I love!  I have been working hard to create morning activities for my daughter to have set up and ready for when she walks out of her room in the morning.  Trying to get our day started on the right foot without the television is always our goal.  This activity combined two things we are currently loving; magnetic tiles and sensory bins!  Since we are working through my January Learn and Play Activity Guide, I wanted to continue to keep the activity winter themed.  So, I created a very simple arctic sensory bin to use with our magnetic tile number boxes.

The sensory bin included:

For the activity, I encouraged her to choose the same number of objects from the sensory bin to place into the corresponding number box.  We used my Mitten Counting Mats also from my January Learn and Play Guide  to help her count and recognize the numbers that each box was labeled.  Once we counted out the correct amount, we placed those objects into their number boxes.  This activity was so simple to set up and perfect for introducing or practicing recognizing numbers for little learners.  

This is my favorite kind of learning activity because it lends itself so easily to independent play.  When we were finished counting out our objects from the sensory bin to place into our number boxes, Little Miss was ready to build with her magnetic tiles and use her animals from the sensory bins to live inside of her towers.  Learning through play is always the goal!

If you have a set of magnetic tiles I encourage you to try this activity out.  You can pair the number boxes with more magnetic numbers that they have to place inside the matching box or with other materials around your house.  If you do not own a set of magnetic tiles yet, I highly recommend them! (not sponsored we just love them!)

I hope you enjoyed this activity and look forward to more activities that you can easily set up for your little ones at home!

Happy playing!

From today’s post: