Voula, from London, sent in this great Mr. Lion number counting activity idea. Let’s take a look at it…

What did you do?

Mr Lion’s teeth have fallen out. Can you help him put them back? For this fun activity, I created a Lions head using coloured paper and pritt stick! For the mouth I folded a piece of card paper so it would open and close. For the teeth I used round white stickers and numbered them from 1-12.

I asked my child to help Mr Lion put his teeth back by sticking the teeth along his mouth starting with Number 1 until we reached number 12.

I found this activity to be really engaging and spark a lot of excitement for my little boy. He was fascinated by the Lions mouth and how he could open and close it himself. He was so excited to help Mr Lion and he felt a real sense of accomplishment that he had helped Mr Lion and made him happy again.

I love the concept of learning through play and this activity is a perfect example of this. He was able to practice his number recognition through helping Mr Lion. It is also a great activity to practice fine motor skills whilst peeling off the numbered stickers. We thoroughly enjoyed this activity.

Do you have any other projects planned?

I am now thinking of ideas on an activity based around Dinosours which can hopefully be as engaging as Mr Lion.

Tell the Housebound With Kids community a bit about yourself…

My name is Voula. I am a mummy of 2 boys aged 3 years and 10 months from London. We love to share the activities we get up to on a daily basis to hopefully help other parents get some new ideas on how to encourage learning through play.
@toddletips

Do you have any tips for other parents?

Setting up a quick activity not only creates excitement for your child but also gives you a little time to sit back and relax for a little while. Sometimes people ask me how long it takes me to set something up. Obviously it varies, but on the whole I set up something the night before which doesn’t take longer than 10 minutes usually and then my little ones have something fun to keep them occupied in the morning.

What are your family’s favourite board game(s)/card game(s)?

We love taboo and we make it much more simple for my 3 year old. He is also a huge fan of Simon says!

What are your children’s favourite books?

My eldest absolutely loves books. He particularly loves books by Julia Donaldson, Judith Kerr and any books dinosaur related! We have also recently got into the Little People Big Dreams collection.

What toys would you recommend to other parents?

I would always opt for open ended toys. A good set of building blocks, magnetic tiles, animal figures, nesting bowls, push along cars, crayons and anything with lids – cups with lids, bowls with lids or just a cardboard box!

Has this website and community helped you?

I absolutely love the website and it’s ethos! I love to share our ideas but also gain many new ones from others. It’s such a lovely community where we can feel comfortable to share and support each other.