I asked one of the little toddlers I teach who was turning 2 that day, “How old are you?”

Proudly, this little girl with a big smile held up two “baby chubby” fingers!

Children are born mathematicians. As young infants they begin to observe and make relationships in logic and in their environment. It is important for young children to explore their environment by hands on manipulation of objects so they can understand spatial relationships, sets of objects and sequencing.

Foundational learning begins when a young child discovers certain relationships, basic truths and logic  in their surroundings. We as parents and teachers need to provide young children time, a stress-free environment for learning and freedom to explore.

How can parents of young children help in aiding a child to develop readiness for math skills?

Here are a few suggestions:

*Babies from birth to a year and a half learn by using their five senses. Simple toys like a rattle, bath toys like rubber ducks, balls, big blocks or toys meet the developmental needs of young children this age.

*Young children ages 2 through 5 begin to learn concepts. Children this age are constantly searching for order and patterns in their environment.

Here are a few inexpensive activities you can do at home and within the everyday routine.

—As a teacher, I always love to cook simple recipes with my class. Parents, the kitchen is a wonderful math lab where children can measure, divide ingredients into portions, and learn about time in telling your child how long it will take to cook something.

—The laundry basket is a wonderful activity in sorting. You can guide your young child to sort socks, towels, pants, shirts, etc. in groups or piles.

—Patterning is learned by having your child set the table. One-to-one correspondence is learned by counting the people in your family and setting out the correct number of plates, cups, utensils.

—The grocery store is a wonderful math field trip for a young child! Comparing sizes and amounts, counting the food items in your cart, seeing numbers by looking at prices on food items offer many opportunities for children to develop math concepts. Too, include your young child in coupon clipping. They can help you find the items on the coupon picture.

—Young children love to sing number songs by using their fingers.

Remember math is more than computing numbers; it is a way of thinking.

Beth Pinyerd lives in Daphne and serves as director of younger children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.

Her column appears every other week in the Daphne Bulletin and Spanish Fort Sun.