Answer: Try these tips by Bill Jenkins, expert in learning-based brain plasticity:

“There are simple things that parents and caregivers can do to help preschoolers learn about numbers and prepare for kindergarten math:

• Ask children to count objects they can touch, such as Cheerios, pieces of cheese, or blocks, and objects they can see, like pictures of dogs on a page of the book Go, Dog. Go!
• Label the number of items in sets of objects children use throughout the day.  For example, “You have six crayons.”
• When counting tangible objects, label the number of items in the set, too, to point children toward the crux of the cardinal principle—that the last number counted represents the entire set of objects.  For example, “one, two, three, four crackers; you have four crackers.”
• Talk about larger sets more often.  What children learn about larger sets helps them perform better on tasks involving smaller sets as well.
• Expose children to age-appropriate, educational math games for preschoolers, such as the Eddy’s Number Party!™ game, a new iPad app from Scientific Learning that develops counting, number matching skills, and more.  The game, designed with cognitive scientists and educators, is based on research into how the brain learns.

Perhaps one day in the not-too-distant future, public awareness of the importance of building preschool math literacy will match that of building preschool verbal literacy.  But for now, parents and caregivers who are in the know can begin to engage preschoolers with the right kinds of activities to give them an edge in developing the early childhood math skills needed for success throughout the elementary grades.”

Please read Jenkins’ blog article for more details:

Kindergarten Math Readiness & The Cardinal Principle