Matching games or figuring out which items go together helps your toddler develop early reasoning skills.
Materials:
several household items that have a match or a corresponding part such as:
- a cooking pot and lid
- a pair of socks or slippers
- a fork and a spoon
- a comb and a hairbrush
Directions:
- Separate the matching items into two groups. To play the game, choose an item from one of the groups and invite your toddler to find its match in the other group.
- When you see that your child has grasped the concept, switch roles and you find the match to the item your child picks.
- Continue in this way until all the items are matched.
Parent Tips:
- You can play a similar matching game when you are folding the laundry (invite your toddler to help you match up all the socks, for example).
- When you go grocery shopping, your child can match one kind of food with another, such as cookies with milk or fruit with cereal, and explain the match.
