Best Counting & Math Toys in 2022

Last update: December 11, 2022

Melissa & Doug Abacus Classic Wooden Toy (Developmental Toy, Brightly-Colored Wooden Beads, 8 Extension Activities, Great Gift for Girls and Boys - Best for 3, 4, and 5 Year Olds) Review:


Even though she is in a gifted math program, has advanced to, and is proficient in more complicated math, my 7-year-old daughter still uses her fingers to perform simple addition. She obviously lacks sufficient fingers! I wasn't sure if she would even know how to operate an abacus, so I bought one anyhow. She uses it frequently, and it provides an excellent image for understanding how each number appears and why we would add or subtract to solve problems. Even some simple multiplication has been taught to her (3x3, 2x4, and 2x11 were the problems she had to solve.) With this abacus, she was able to clearly perceive "3 three times," "2 four times," and "2 eleven times," as well as how multiplication was a communitive characteristic. Multiplication had always caused her a lot of concern. No more worrying about multiplication! This abacus is awesome. We have only used it in this way so far, but like another reviewer advised, I am eager to read the instructions and watch some YouTube tutorials. Based on all of the great reviews, I decided to get this abacus, and I'm glad I did! It accomplishes its goal and is durable and strong. My two-year-old enjoys swiping the beads back and forth, and the toy is sturdy.



Kidzlane Color Matching Egg Set - Toddler Toys - Educational Color & Number Recognition Skills Learning Toy - Easter Eggs Review:


My daughter's favorite Christmas present is this. It was an excellent educational tool for her to learn about various colors. The toy is well-made, therefore I anticipate its longevity. With the exception of two - see notes below - our child could open the eggs at 17 months, and at 19 months, he can now put most of them back together (the higher numbers are easier to put back together).If not for the following flaws, I would give this toy a perfect five stars:- The color scheme may be more appealing. We refer to a pale orange as "orange," a reddish-orange as "red," and a tan as "brown." Given that the age range is 18 months, these ought to be a truer shade of orange, red, and brown. An 18-month-old has no concept of the hue red-orange. There are also 2 tones of blue and green; I would have chosen 1 of each and changed the 2nd colour to 1 of white, gold, or teal. Our other toys also include these hues.- Our 19-month-old toddler has found it difficult to open the carton and two of the eggs, and one egg just falls open on its own.Whatever the case, this is a wonderful toy that is used frequently each day! It has no sounds or technological components, which is unusual for toys at this age. It improves fine motor abilities while teaching colors. It's something I'd unquestionably suggest for a child under 18 months old.



CoolToys Monkey Balance Cool Math Game for Girls & Boys | Fun, Educational Children’s Gift & Kids Toy STEM Learning Ages 3+ (65-Piece Set) Review:


My 21-month-old child is already counting objects one at a time and reciting numbers up to 20, but I can tell he is doing it because he can recall the order of numbers in series rather than being able to recognize a number and convert it to a quantity. I bought this item to help him understand the analogy between quantity and actual numbered symbols through visual instruction.He enjoys grabbing the colorful numbers and speaking their names because they excite him. It takes some work to get him to concentrate and pay attention, but as I playfully vary my tone of voice, he begins to pay attention and reacts to the fact that the balance rises until the number of monkeys on one side equals the number on the other. I didn't need this toy to be electronic; I just required this small but really clever physics component to show him that they are both equal. I've had it for maybe two months, and every time my baby eats, he makes monkey noises to want it. While seated in his highchair, he occasionally drops the numbers from a height of three to four feet, and all of the numbers have survived numerous drops practically daily with no obvious visible damage. The weighing platforms or pans are detachable, have proven to be sturdy, and are very simple to assemble and store in the same box. Along with the numbers themselves, the monkey figurines are wonderfully solid, charming, and of the highest quality. The only drawback, and the reason I didn't give all metrics a 5-star rating, is that the balance mechanism is a little out of calibration and I can't seem to be able to adjust it without ruining it.I'm trying to utilize the combination of 2 1 and 5 2 to replace the digits 3 and 7 that he has already lost, so I can keep presenting him quantities. I haven't had a chance to utilize the flashcards, but I could in a few weeks after he can follow instructions much more quickly and intently.



Math for Love Tiny Polka Dot Review:


Children can develop their number awareness by playing this game. It is well-made, has a ton of options, and is related to what kids are probably studying in school. Its excellence is partly due to its simplicity.Play this game, especially with your children ages 3-6. Assist them in making the transition from counting all the dots on a card to grouping them and adding numbers. When a kindergartener saw a card with the number six on it and I was playing with her, she immediately said "6" since she saw 3 and 3. Your children should begin thinking in this way when they transition from counting to understanding quantity.There are 16 different varieties of the game that need greater thinking. To adjust the level, you could also modify almost all of the variations such that they used the numbers 0-5 or 0-10.Can't say enough wonderful things. Purchase this if you have children and want them to be adaptable mathematicians.



Skoolzy Rainbow Counting Bears with Matching Sorting Cups, Bear Counters and Dice Math Toddler Games 71pc Set - Bonus Scoop Tongs, Storage Bag Review:


The Skoolzy 60 Rainbow Count Bears with Cups is a brand-new item that we just enjoy! The bears are of high quality hard plastic and are just big enough to prevent choking. The cups are also incredibly sturdy, constructed of high-quality plastic that is thick and will withstand rigorous play. Due of her short attention span, our two-year-old may happily play with these for up to 20 minutes at a time. She enjoys arranging the variously colored bears into piles and placing them in the appropriate cups. The packaging was excellent and included a transparent plastic tube to hold and contain all the bears that was of comparable quality. To keep the bears and cups together when not in use, I would have delighted to see storage for both of them in a single container.These bears make excellent pattern cards, such as the "learning resources three bear activity cards," to go along with them. After our purchase, Skoolsy thoughtfully sent us a different email with extra suggestions and activities to utilize as resources for the product. Well done! I would repurchase these!



Learning Resources Transparent Color Counting Chips, Set of 250 Assorted Colored Chips, Ages 5+ Review:


Markers that are cheap, basic, and easy to use. When we intended to play a bingo game at a school event but the kit didn't have enough markers for the number of players, I utilized these instead. This was a quick and simple technique to obtain a good number of markers and it saved the day.These markers turned out to be much more sturdy than I had anticipated, and I anticipate that they will endure for a very long time. I had anticipated cheap plastic markers that wouldn't last very long. Because elementary school students aren't known for being gentle with things, this is significant. These are excellent for the job we needed them to do, and I can think of many more comparable (or unrelated) uses for them as well. They would make terrific classroom resources or for the school's bingo night. I find it to be a good product.



Learning Resources Mathlink Cubes, Educational Counting Toy, Early Math Skills, Set of 100 Cubes Review:


a well-made, adaptable tool for arithmetic instruction. I have a PhD in molecular biology and am a homeschooling mother. One of the most fundamental skills I want to teach my child is math. I initially demonstrated addition and subtraction with duplo blocks, and I didn't understand why I may need anything else. I later came across these Mathlink cubes. They ended up being the very best resource I've ever used for learning math.They snap together simply, hold together properly, and are well made for me to take apart (slightly difficult for my 5 year old to assemble, but she can pull them apart easily). In fact, you may use them to create three-dimensional shapes (you have to be a little clever about how you rotate each block, but it works). My three-year-old might use the cubes to make a "crane" that is 30 blocks high while my five-year-old and I build a 3 X 3 X 3 cube and discuss why 27 is a cube number. They replace cuisenaire counting rods in our system. They serve as illustrations for ideas in our workbook for Singapore Math. They serve as an example of multiplication. They are used for place value (10s and 1s), borrowing-based subtraction, and other operations.Each hue is represented by ten of the set of 100 items. I would advise purchasing at least 5 packs of 100 for the homeschoolers. To use this learning tool to its fullest, you really need to have roughly 50 in a single hue. The quantity you must purchase in order to effectively use these blocks is their only drawback.Also observe that each six-sided cube has five "holes" and just one "nubbin" that protrudes from the surface. At first, I thought it would be easier to create sturdy 3-D objects if there were two "nubbin" sides. However, after using them every day for several months, I've come to the conclusion that the 5/1 design affords the toy the most versatility for math education.Do they pose a choking risk? Yes. Can a little child gnaw them up? Yes.How long will they last when used continuously? I'm not sure. They are made of a slightly stretchy plastic, which suggests that they will endure a few years under heavy use. In light of the fact that Lego/Duplo items are made to survive for generations, these are not quite as strong (or precisely engineered). Nevertheless, great value.



Didax Educational Resources Unifix Cubes Set (100 Pack) Review:


I bought these to utilize as an addition to my son's K and 1st grade arithmetic homeschool curriculum. This is definitely the math tool that we use the most and will probably continue to use for the next year or two. They can be applied to a variety of tasks, including graphing, greater than, less than, counting, skip counting, patterns, colors, and more. One day, he even shocked me by telling me there were 100 cubes in the container because he knew there were 10 sets of 10.The cubes are fairly simple to control. They are easily separated but have good adhesion. The vivid colors have not faded or truly exhibited signs of wear after a year of use. There is a little booklet included. I only used a handful of the concepts, but you may find many more online, in curriculums, or even by simply experimenting with them over time.



VTech Spin and Learn Color Flashlight, Yellow Review:


Daughter enjoys this flashlight a lot. It does more than just make it easier for her to see in the dark. She enjoys playing with it both at home and while out for evening strolls or bike rides. Although her hands are still a little little to 'easily' turn the lens cap to the various settings, she ultimately succeeds in doing so without help and is extremely proud (and delighted) when she succeeds.Its bright, but not so bright that it would hurt her eyes or vision is another great feature that I honestly did not consider while looking for a light for her (if even possible in intervals of use). She has another lamp that I originally got for her that is MUCH brighter, lacks the same characteristics, and is frequently pointed directly at her face or eyes. As it's just bright enough but not excessively light, I don't have many worries about this one whether she does that or does that to a friend or someone else.



Learning Resources Smart Snacks Alpha Pops, Alphabet Matching & Fine Motor Skills Toy, 26 Double Sided Pieces, Ages 2+ Review:


Having trouble understanding what some of the other reviewers mean when they claim that these toys are "poorly manufactured." I'm very happy I purchased these from a nearby teacher supply business! They are all played with by my four girls, who range in age from two to twelve. These pops have been a part of my life for about five years, and I've never had any issues with them. No minor components, paint that has peeled or been scraped exist. These may be slammed around (and have been for years), and it makes no difference at all to the final outcome. You should keep the plastic container they came in because that is how we store them and we lost ours somewhere and I wish we hadn't. (The container in the picture is not the one they arrived in; it is simply one of the extras we had on hand that I chose to use for these.)These can be used as pretend foods by children. We don't mind that they can be difficult to snap together or pull apart. Older children assist the younger ones. We've only ever experienced one problem when they were taken outside and left for a few days in the yard. In this situation, the light may fade things, but it is our problem and not the product's. Additionally, for some reason, ours have become sticky and dirty. They are simple to remove with a cloth or a sink rinse.useful for teaching children upper and lower case. Additional letters are printed on the reverse of each pair of two pops (which can confuse the very young. ) Overall, a fun toy of decent quality and cute design.This is a genuine review that I wrote without receiving payment; I bought the items with my own money.