When it comes right down to it, kids are just as able to learn from the everyday stuff you have lying about your house as from pricey educational toys. You don’t have to blow a fortune on the latest fancy toys in the market to give your child an edge. There are learning aids that you can find right in your home that you can make use of for boosting language skills, counting and sorting practice, identifying objects, number practice and so on.

In the third part of my series on Money Saving Tips for Preschool Mamas, we’ve already gone through thrifty secrets for saving on clothes and art supplies.

Here are some commonly found things at home that you can use to instantly fashion learning aids for your kids.

1 - Paper Bags

Photo Courtesy Flickr - Nix Sidhe

These have unlimited uses. Use to play counting games. Attach a picture of a elephant to a puffed out paper bag, and make your child feed him peanuts by numbers you call out or by looking at a card with a number on it. Vary the picture of the elephant with a rabbit and use small pieces of carrot shape construction paper to feed the rabbit a required number of carrots.

Attach a picture of a rabbit to a bunch of paper bags, and write a number on each of them. Cut out pieces of orange tag or paper, to look like little carrots. Make small dots on each carrot. Ask your child to count the number of dots on the carrot, and place it in the rabbit bag with that number.

Stuff a brown paper bag with newspaper halfway through, and tie it with a string. Paint it black, and draw a pair of eyes with white paint. Tie a long string to the bag and hang it from a nail in your child’s room. Attach 8 strips of crepe paper to the bag, 4 on each side of the bag. Use this “spider” for counting activities, and making sets.

For more “legs” to count, tape 3 such stuffed bags to each other to make a centipede. Attach a dozen crepe paper legs on each side of the centipede, and hang in your preschooler’s room.

Take a bunch of paper bags, place them sideways, and staple them at the closed ends. Your child can use this “book” for any number of activities – as an alphabet and number scrap book, to draw pictures , to collect and name items she finds on nature walks etc.

Use lunch bags to create a city with your child – stuff with newspapers, and place on their sides. Draw windows or paste stickers on the bags to create a building. Name them “Central Library,” ” Wal-Mart” and so on. Your child can pitch in with suggestions for buildings she sees around town.

Stuff a bag with newspapers, tie the mouth with a string and attach to a stick. Use wool to create hair and draw on eyes and a face, and you have a puppet that you can use for imaginary games and story telling.

2 - Boxes

Photo Courtesy Flickr - Al Fassam

Create a story box. Place small toys like dolls and cars, plastic household toy equipment and let her make her own doll house from scratch. For boys, make other buildings like a tool shed. Let her take out an object one by one from the box and weave these objects in a story. Share in the story creating process.

Take an empty box, and wrap in white paper. Write the words of a nursery rhyme on each side of the box. Use it as a rhyme dice to sing nursery rhymes.

Punch holes into the sides of an old shoe box and give your child colorful laces to create patterns by lacing through the holes. Don’t forget to wrap a piece of tape around one end of the lace to secure it in place.

Use old detergent boxes or tooth paste boxes and use to sort in order of size, or stack inside each other.

Cut out pictures of a room from an interiors magazine like a bed room, kitchen etc. and paste on separate shoe boxes. Cut out smaller pictures of separate items that go into these rooms, for instance, a couch, chair, a dresser etc. Ask your child to place all the small pictures that go into that particular room – the bed picture goes into the bedroom box, and so on.

Stick numbers on each section of a candy box, and let your child count and place the required numbers of peas or beans into each section.

Use milk cartons that are shaped like a house, and ask your child to build a house by using square and rectangular stickers.

Use shoe boxes as nature study boxes. Let her fill up with things that she finds when shoe goes out with you – dried leaves, feathers, dried twigs etc. Ask her to name each of these objects.

3 - Play Dough

Play dough is a thrifty mom’s best friend. Let your child use these to make alphabets, and numbers. Being able to feel the alphabet as she’s molding the dough, leads to a better awareness of the letter. Make your own play dough. Use food essences like cinnamon, lemon and lavender, and let her experiment with making different alphabets with different scents.

4 - Stationery, Stickers

Take a few boiled eggs and color by dipping them for 10 minutes in a solution of water and food coloring. Use these dyed eggs for counting games - give your child small polka dot stickers, and a bunch of index cards with numerals on each. Let her look at each card and stick the required number of stickers on the colored eggs.

Create a shape chart by drawing and painting square, rectangle, triangle and circle shapes on a cardboard. Cut out a sponge in the same shapes, and ask your child to match with the shapes on the board.

Fix paper clips to index cards with a number on each. Give her a magnet with a string attached and ask her to fish out the number that you call out.

Write names of household objects on index cards (door, window) and stick them on those objects. Leave for a week and help her read and identify the words.

Cut out the front of a nice greeting card, and paste on cardboard. Cut up into several pieces (depending on her age), and use as a puzzle. You can also use the front of cereal boxes. Stick a knob (the kind you see on drawers) on each piece to make it easy for her to lift each piece.

5 - Kitchenware

Use empty plastic cups, and disposable glasses to stack one inside the other.

Use spoons and cups to measure rice, lentils, beans and other measuring activities.

Use measuring activities for preschoolers to see how much a cup of milk weighs against a cup of rice on your kitchen weighing machine.

Color pasta shapes by dipping into a solution of water and food coloring. Use to thread into a necklace. Threading games are excellent for fine motor skills development.

Let her color ice cream sticks different colors, and sort according to colors. Or color them different shades of the same color, and sort from lightest to darkest.

Give her a funnel, a strainer and colander, a glass of unstrained tea, a bowl of salt mixed with rice and let her find the easiest way to separate the salt from the rice. Same with the tea – let her figure out how to separate the tea from the leaves using these objects.

Fill jugs with water or dry beans and let her pour into an empty bowl without spilling. It helps develop motor skills.

6 - Clothes

Use beads, and buttons for sorting activities. Socks and mittens can also be used for sorting games. Sort by size, color pattern etc.

Draw a pair of eyes and stick a piece of pink constriction paper on the toe area to make a hand puppet.

Sort shoes of family members in increasing, and decreasing order.

Don’t throw away old costumes, or accessories like scarves and costume jewelry. Use these for playing dress up or for other imaginative role playing activities.

Use laundry for sorting activities. Let her sort into whites and coloreds, clothes and linens, and so on.

7- Furniture

Use ribbons to practice tying shoe laces between the two wooden handles of a chair.

Stack up cushions and use as a narrow plank for her to walk on. It helps her gain control over balance.

Use pillows and cushions as an obstacle course at home.

Throw a bed sheet between two chairs, and let her use the tent as her personal space. It encourages imagination. Ask open ended questions and encourage her to take about her “house.”

Use pillow covers to play I Spy games – stick a card with an alphabet on it to the cover, and let her find things from around the house that begin with that letter.

Play guessing games or mystery games - have a bunch of stuff inside the pillow cover - small toys, glass beads, pine cones - let her close her eyes, grab one and guess what it is.

So, what do you grab from around the house for an impromptu lesson? I’d love to hear your ideas!

Practice makes permanent, so here are 40 ways to get your child to practice identifying and writing numbers.

1. Write numbers on a large sheet of paper, and let her use play dough to create and trace number shapes on each number on the paper.
2. Let her dip a Q tip in paint, and trace the numbers. Use a clear plastic to cover the sheet with numbers.
3. Make a number board by writing large numerals on a white sheet, sticking it to cardboard, and covering with a clear plastic sheet. Let her trace numbers regularly with a marker.
4. Practice writing using edible finger paints like pudding, on cookie sheets or plastic trays.
5. Give her a bowl of different shapes of pasta. Let her sort them, and count how many of each kind there are. Let her write down the numbers herself in a worksheet.
6. Do more such sorting and counting exercises with M & M’s. Let her count the different colored ones in a packet.
7. Have a bunch of index cards with a single numeral on each. Hold up each card and ask her to hop or jump as many times as the number on the card.
8. Enjoy preschool number activities together. Paste a rabbit or elephant’s picture on a lunch bag and give her smooth pebbles, peanuts, or pieces of construction paper. Write down numerals on a bunch of index card. Hold up each card. Let her “feed” the animal that many peanuts or carrots by counting them and putting them in the bag.
9. Clap a certain number of times. Let her listen, count and clap the same number of times.
10. Make your own number scrap book. Use pictures from magazines, or stickers to paste on each page. Let her write each number on a page. Allow her to decide the colors of the marker and pictures for herself.
11. Look for numbers every time you’re out of the house – on license plates, shop numbers, hoardings etc.
12. Look for numbers inside the house – on cans, books, newspapers, the phone book, shoe sizes, clothes tags.
13. Combine learning with shopping at the supermarket - ask her to fetch two tins of milk, or 4 packets of chips.
14. Use playing cards and buttons. Let her place the appropriate number of buttons on the hearts, or spades, clubs or diamonds on each card
15. Let her count the number of hearts or clubs on each playing card and count out pasta shapes or M & M’s.
16. Enjoy more number activities for preschoolers. Line up 10 food baskets with numerals on them, from 0 to 10. Give her 55 objects - spoons, plastic cups, small toys – and have her put the required number of objects into each bucket. By the time she finishes, there should be no objects left.
17. Write out numbers 1 - 0 on a sheet and have her erase a number as you say it our aloud at random. By the time, you’re done, there should be no more numbers on the sheet.
18. Hold up index cards with a numeral on each. Let her take a look at the number, and make chains of paper clips.
19. Attach a magnet to a string. Place cards with a numeral on each, and attach a paper clip to each card. When you call out a number, let her fish for that card.
20. Make numbers out of round and straight pretzels, pasta shapes, and cooked spaghetti.
21. Use thinking and counting games. Have her count out pasta according to questions you ask – How old are you? How many people live in this house? How many friends do you have? How many brothers do you have? How many sisters? When is your birthday?
22. Combine exercise with numbers. Let her look at the date on the calendar. If it’s the 15^th, let her touch her toes 15 times.
23. Place cardboard cutouts of numbers under a sheet of paper and let her rub over the sheet with crayons. As the number begins to take shape, let her guess the number.
24. Use counting rhymes, and often.
25. Write numbers on circular pieces of thick paper, and punch a hole in each. Let her string them in sequential order, and make a necklace to wear.
26. Use cues to help her write numerals – “Straight line down makes the number 1,” “Half a cookie and put it on a plate makes number 2,” “Around the tree and around again makes number 3,” “Down and over and down again makes number 4,” “Across and down and around the tree makes number 5.”
27. Let her count foods she eats as one– an apple – and foods she eats as many – peas.
28. Let her use the fingers of both hands to show the numbers that you call out. For 5, she could use three fingers of one hand and two of the other, or some other combination.
29. Cut a cake, and count the slices. Cut up fruit, and let her count the slices, or vegetables as you chop into smaller pieces. Cut cheese into multiple strips, if she can count beyond 10.
30. Play a game of Twister. Place large pieces of construction paper with numerals on them on the ground. Let her place her right foot on 5, her left hand on 3 and so on.
31. Count the number of body parts she has – how many eyes, ears, hands, legs, mouth? Can she count the hairs on her head?
32. Give her index cards with numerals on them, and let her punch as many holes as the number on the card with a punch machine.
33. Write down numerals in an ice cube tray, or place stickers in the empty sections of a candy box. Let her count, and place the required numbers of buttons, or beads in each section.
34. Give her a dollar, and ask her to pick out anything in the supermarket that costs a dollar.
35. Let her weigh out ingredients in the kitchen with you – 2 eggs, 3 bananas, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 2 cups of flour and so on. Such measuring activities in the kitchen can help make math enjoyable.
36. Give her a shoelace or wool, and let her trace numerals on a sheet of paper.
37. Give her a tray with sand, and let her trace numbers in it with her finger.
38. Stuff an old sock with sand, and make a small hole at the bottom. Let her use the dripping sand to make numbers in the yard.
39. Cut out numerals made of sandpaper by tracing them out with the help of a stencil. Let her trace her fingers over each numeral.
40. Make your own sensory numeral cards. Cut out numerals from thick paper with a stencil and drip wax from colored candles to trace each numeral in a series of dots. When dry, the dots giver her a wonderful sensory learning experience. If you’re okay with her using a burning candle, help her make the wax dots herself.

Tip: Introduce your child to few numbers at a time. Begin number learning lessons in the morning, so you can continue practicing these activities through the rest of the day.

Above all, have fun!

Rhymes can be used for any number of learning activities – for strengthening language skills, for boosting vocabulary, and for counting skills. Your preschooler will find counting and memorizing numbers becomes easier if counting rhymes are a part of his routine at home.

Younger kids are already familiar with 1-2-3, but find themselves getting stuck as they progress beyond these. Recite these rhymes together as you’re fixing dinner, in the car, during bath time. Practice makes permanent where numerals are concerned.

Here are some counting rhymes for the both of you to enjoy. Use plenty of actions, and encourage her to use her fingers and toes to count out the numbers, and hold them up.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

One, two, buckle my shoe,

Three, four, shut the door,

Five, six, pick up sticks,

Seven, eight, lay them straight,

Nine, ten, a big fat hen,

Eleven, twelve, dig and delve

Thirteen, fourteen, maids are courting

Fifteen, sixteen, maids are kissing

Seventeen, eighteen, maids are waiting

Nineteen, twenty, my plate’s empty.

Fish Alive

One, two, three, four, five,

Once I caught a fish alive,

Six seven eight nine ten,

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so,

Which finger did it bite?

The little finger on the right.

Use these rhymes to practice subtraction and counting backwords:

Ten green bottles

Ten green bottles standing on the wall,

Ten green bottles standing on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’ll be nine green bottles standing on the wall,

Nine green bottles standing on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’ll be eight green bottles hanging on the wall,

One little, 2 little, 3 little Indians,

4 little, 5 little, 6 little Indians,

7 little, 8 little, 9 little Indians,

Ten little Indian boys!

10 little, nine little, 8 little Indians

7 little, six little, five little Indians

4 little, 3 little, 2 little Indians

1 little Indian boy!

This is a popular rhyme that’s best when recited with lots of actions.

This old man

This old man he played one, (let her hold up her thumb)

He played knick knack on my thumb (let her tap two thumbs together)

With a knick knack paddy whack (put one fist on top of the other)

Give a dog a bone (make an action of handing over a bone to a dog)

This old man came rolling home (let her roll her arm one over the other).

Proceed to “two” till you’ve covered all numbers till 10. Use these rhyming words

Two – shoe

Three – on my knee

Four – on my door

Five – on my hive

Six – on my sticks

Seven – up in heaven

Eight – on my gate

Nine – on my spine

Ten – once again.

Change the words to other rhymes and songs to create new counting rhymes:

When the Numbers go Marching In (Sung to When the saints go marching in)

O, when the numbers go marching in

O, when the numbers go marching in,

We will count them one by one,

When the numbers go marching in,

O one two three and four five six,

Seven and eight nine and ten,

When we finish all our numbers,

We will count them once again.

Sing a Song of Numbers ( sung to Sing a song of Six Pence)

Sing a song of numbers,

Count them one by one,

Sing a song of numbers,

We’ve only just begun,

One, two, three, four, five, six,

Seven, eight, nine and ten,

When we finish counting them,

We’ll start over again.

Count our Numbers (sung to Oh my Darling Clementine)

Count our numbers, count our numbers,

Count our numbers everyday,

Oh it’s fun to count our numbers,

Count with Mommy every day.

One, two, three, four,

Five, six, seven, eight,

Nine and ten we’ll count today,

It’s so fun to count together,

One to ten and then again.

Show me One (sung to Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

One, one show me one,

Show me one right now,

One, one show me one

Show me one right now.

Proceed with other numbers.

The Number Song (sung to Mary had a little lamb)

Number one is o-n-e, o-n-e, o-n-e,

Number one is o-n-e,

That spells number one .

Use for numbers two, six, and ten.

The Number Song II (sung to Skip to my Lou)

T-h-r-e-e

T-h-r-e-e

T-h-r-e-e

That spells number three.

Use for numbers, four, five and nine.

The Number Song III (sung to The Farmer’s in the Dell)

S-e-v-e-n,

S-e-v-e-n,

Hi ho the derry o,

That spells number seven.

Use for number eight too.

Enjoy!