Learning Through Play: Easy Games for Colours, Numbers and Letters

Level: Intermediate · Reading time: 6 minutes

Children don't need worksheets or flashcards to learn. Young children learn best through play and everyday moments, like counting stairs, finding red cars, or spotting the first letter of their name on a shop sign.

As a nanny, you have lots of chances to turn ordinary activities into learning. Here are some easy, free ideas.

A few golden rules

Keep it fun. If a child isn't interested, stop and try again another day.

Follow the child's lead. If they love dinosaurs, count dinosaurs!

Keep it short. A few minutes is enough for young children.

Don't test all the time. Instead of "What colour is this?", try "I love this blue car!" Children learn by hearing words used naturally.

Check with the parents about what the child is learning at nursery or school, so you can practise the same things.

Colours

Colour hunt (2+ years)

Choose a colour and find as many things as you can in that colour around the house or park. "Let's find something green! A leaf! A green cup!"

Sorting by colour (18 months+)

Sort toys, blocks, socks or pens into piles of the same colour.

Colour mixing (3+ years)

If the parents are happy with messy play, mix paints and discover new colours. "What happens when we mix blue and yellow?"

I spy colours (2+ years)

"I spy something... red!" This is perfect for car journeys and waiting rooms.

Shapes

Shape hunt (2+ years)

Look for shapes around you: a round clock, a square window, a rectangle door, a triangle roof.

Shape snacks (2+ years)

Cut sandwiches or cheese into shapes: squares, triangles and circles. "Would you like triangle toast or square toast?"

Draw shapes in the air (3+ years)

Draw big circles, squares and triangles in the air with your finger, then on paper.

Numbers and counting

Count everything (18 months+)

Count stairs as you climb, grapes on the plate, buttons on a coat, or ducks in the pond. Touch or point at each one as you count.

How many? (3+ years)

Ask "How many cars are there?" Then add or take one away: "Now one car drives away. How many now?"

Number hunt (3+ years)

Look for numbers on doors, buses, and clocks when you're out. "Look, that bus is number 7!"

Big and small (2+ years)

Compare things: big/small, long/short, more/less, heavy/light. This is the start of maths too!

Bath time pouring (18 months+)

Use cups in the bath to explore full, empty, and half full.

Letters and early reading

Their name first (3+ years)

The letters in a child's own name are the most exciting letters in the world! Point out the first letter of their name on signs and packets.

Letter sounds (3+ years)

Nurseries and schools in the UK usually teach letter sounds before letter names: "s" as in snake, not "ess". Ask the parents which system the school uses.

Letter hunt (4+ years)

Choose a letter and find things that start with that sound. "Can you find something that starts with 'b'? A ball! A banana!"

Letters in the sand or on the path (4+ years)

Draw letters with a finger in sand, flour on a tray, or with water and a paintbrush on the path outside.

Everyday learning moments

You don't need special activities. These everyday moments are full of learning:

Laying the table: "We need four forks, one for each person."

Cooking: measuring, counting, and talking about more and less

Shopping: finding colours, counting apples, spotting letters on packets

Tidying up: sorting toys by type, colour or size

Getting dressed: "Which is your left shoe?", counting buttons, naming colours

Useful phrases

"Let's count them together: one, two, three!"

"Can you find something round?"

"Which one is bigger?"

"That's the first letter of your name!"

"What sound does 'm' make?"

"Well done, you counted all the way to ten!"

Vocabulary

WordMeaning

to sortto put things into groups

shapethe outline of something, like a circle or square

rectanglea shape with four sides, two long and two short

to countto say numbers in order

letter soundthe sound a letter makes, e.g. "sss" for s

phonicsthe way UK schools teach children to read using letter sounds

to compareto look at how things are the same or different

UK vs US English: in the UK, children learn maths and the letter zed (Z). In the US, it's math and zee.