Counting for toddlers: how to teach numbers 1 to 10 in English (with Tatako’s eight arms)

Counting for toddlers starts with the number words, one, two, three, and slowly grows into knowing how many. Count real things you can touch, slowly, one at a time: fingers, toes, stairs, crackers. Start with one to five, and go up to ten when those feel easy.

Numbers are everywhere in a toddler’s day. Two shoes, three blocks, five toes, ten steps to the front door. Each of those is a tiny counting lesson, and you don’t need worksheets or flashcards to use them. You just need to count out loud, together, with the things right there.

Here’s how counting grows, why one to five comes first, counting with fingers, toes and arms, a silly counting game with Tatako’s eight arms, five-minute games, counting in daily routines, traditional rhymes, numbers in English and Spanish, and a few common mistakes to skip.

Counting for toddlers: counting words and knowing how many

Counting is really three skills that grow at different times:

• Saying the numbers in order. “One, two, three, four, five.” Many toddlers learn this like a song, long before they use it to count anything.
• One number for each thing. Touching one block and saying “one,” touching the next and saying “two.” This takes practice, because hands and words have to work together.
• Knowing that the last number tells how many. “One, two, three. Three blocks!” This is the big idea, and it usually comes last.

So if your child can say “one, two, three, four, five” but counts three crackers as “one, two, five,” that’s completely normal. They’re learning the words first, and the counting comes with practice.

Very small numbers are easiest. Many toddlers can see “two” at a glance, two shoes, two hands, two eyes, before they can count anything at all. That’s why the first numbers to teach are the small ones.

Numbers one to five first

Start with one, two and three, then add four and five. Small numbers are easy to see, easy to touch and easy to hold in your head.

• One and two. “One cup.” “Two shoes.” “Two hands. Clap, clap!”
• Three. The magic number for races and jumps: “One, two, three, go!”
• Four and five. Fingers on one hand, toes on one foot, ducks in the bath.

Use the same small numbers again and again in real moments. “Three blocks.” “Two more bites.” “One last book.” When your child hears “three” every time you build a little tower, three starts to mean something.

Once one to five feels easy, add six to ten. Two hands make ten fingers, which is a perfect way to count all the way there.

Counting with fingers, toes and arms

Your bodies are the best counting toys, because they’re always with you.

• Fingers. Hold up one finger at a time: “One, two, three!” Then let your child hold up theirs. Fingers turn numbers into something your child can see and wiggle.
• Toes. Count toes in the bath or at diaper time, touching each one. Ten toes take a while, which makes it a nice, slow game.
• Arms, legs, eyes and ears. “Two arms, two legs, one nose, two eyes.” Counting body parts teaches the numbers and the body words together.

Teddy bears and toy animals have bodies too: “How many legs does the dog have? One, two, three, four!” If your child is learning body parts right now, our guide on how to teach toddlers body parts has games that mix nicely with counting.

Count with Tatako and lose count at seven

Here’s a silly counting game that toddlers love. Draw a simple octopus: a round head and eight wiggly arms. Then count the arms together, touching each one slowly: “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…”

At seven, stop and look confused. “Oh no! Where was I?” Tatako always loses count at seven, so you get to start again from one. Most toddlers find this hilarious, and many start shouting “Eight!” before you get there.

The game works because it gives your child a chance to be the one who knows. Toddlers love catching a grown-up making a silly mistake, and fixing it means saying the number out loud. You can play the same game with any eight things: eight blocks, eight spoons, eight crayons in a row.

For older toddlers, add colors: draw each arm in a different color, and count only the red arms, or only the blue ones. Our guide on how to teach toddlers colors has more ways to mix colors and numbers.

Counting games for five minutes

Each of these games takes about five minutes and uses things you already have at home:

• Tower count. Count each block as you stack it: “One, two, three, four…” When it falls, everyone shouts “Crash!”
• Jump count. “Let’s jump three times! One, two, three!” Then try two claps, four stomps or five spins.
• Give me two. For older toddlers: “Can you give me two spoons?” Count them together as they come.
• Hide and count. Cover your eyes and count to five out loud, then go find your child. Later, let them do the counting.
• Bubble count. Blow bubbles and count the ones your child pops. Small numbers, big excitement.
• Countdown. Crouch down and count backward: “Five, four, three, two, one… blast off!” Then jump up high.

Play one game at a time and stop while it’s still fun. A short game that ends on a laugh does more than a long one that ends in a meltdown.

Counting in daily routines

Your day is full of things to count. Pick one or two moments and count there every day:

• Stairs: count every step on the way up or down.
• Getting dressed: “One shoe, two shoes.” “One button, two buttons.”
• Snack time: “One cracker, two crackers, three crackers.” Then, “How many are left?”
• Bath time: count the ducks, the cups or the splashes.
• Cleaning up: “Let’s put away five cars. One, two…”
• On a walk: count dogs, red cars or puddles.
• Bedtime: three kisses, two books, one big hug.

Counting things that matter to your child makes the numbers useful. “Two more minutes at the park” means something when your child knows what two is.

Traditional counting rhymes

Counting rhymes have been helping children learn numbers for a very long time, and they still work. They repeat the numbers in the same order, add fun movements and often count down as well as up.

Some old favorites to look up and sing together are “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe,” “Five Little Ducks,” “Five Little Monkeys,” “Ten in the Bed” and “This Old Man.” Many of them count down from five or ten, one at a time, which is a great way to hear the numbers backward.

Make the rhymes physical. Hold up five fingers and fold one down each time a duck swims away. Bounce on the bed with five teddies and let one fall off on each verse. When your child can see and feel the number change, the rhyme becomes real counting.

Sing the same rhyme often. By the tenth time, your child may start filling in the numbers, or holding up the right fingers before you do.

Numbers in English and Spanish

In a bilingual home, your child may count in both languages, and sometimes in both at once: “one, two, tres!” That’s very common and nothing to fix. Both sets of numbers are growing together.

You can count the same things in both languages at different times, like stairs in English on the way up and in Spanish on the way down. Or keep one language for one game. Either way works, as long as you count real things often.

Some numbers sound alike in both languages, like “six” and “seis” or “seven” and “siete,” and that can make them a little easier to learn.

Common mistakes (and what to do instead)

• Counting too fast. “Onetwothreefourfive” sounds like one long word. Slow down, and touch each thing as you say its number.
• Counting only in the air. Saying numbers without things is a good start, but counting real things is what builds the idea of “how many.” Count crackers, blocks and steps.
• Going too high too soon. Counting to twenty is fun, but small numbers come first. Make one to five really solid before reaching for ten.
• Correcting every skip. If your child counts “one, two, five,” count again together, slowly, touching each one: “Let’s count together! One, two, three.”
• Starting with written numbers. Numbers on paper are useful later. Counting real things comes first, because that’s where the numbers get their meaning.
• Turning “How many?” into a quiz. Ask now and then, but count out loud yourself most of the time. Your child learns by hearing you count again and again.

Where Tatako fits

Counting grows best with real things in your hands: stairs, crackers, toes. Tatako adds short, calm English lessons for the first words around those moments. The 369 first words and phrases in 72 lessons cover people, food, animals, colors, actions, little helper words and what the teacher says at preschool, in about five minutes a day with nothing to read.

Each lesson has a rhythm your child will recognize from counting. Your child hears each word three times, with a pause to say it out loud. Next come two pictures, and your little one touches the one they hear. Finally the picture comes back without the word, and your child gets to name it first. Afterward, a grown-up spends about two minutes marking how each word went (New, Repeat more, Understands or Can say), and the next lesson brings the shaky words back first.

There’s also a Spanish guide voice that explains what to do, which you can turn off once you don’t need it. Lessons run in the browser, and you sign in with Google. For more ideas on what to add at this age, see our guide to English for 3-year-olds, and learn more on the Tatako home page.

Questions parents ask

Where should we start with counting?

Start with one, two and three, using real things you can touch: shoes, blocks, crackers. Count slowly, one thing at a time. When those feel easy, add four and five, and later go all the way to ten with fingers or toes.

Why does my toddler say the numbers but skip when counting things?

Saying numbers in order and counting things are different skills. Many toddlers learn the number words like a song first. Counting things, one number for each, takes practice. Count together slowly, touching each thing, and it will come.

Should we count in English and Spanish at home?

Yes, if both languages are part of your home. Count the same things in both at different times, or keep one language for one game. Your child may mix the numbers for a while, and that’s perfectly fine.

What are easy counting games for a 2-year-old?

Count jumps (“One, two, three, jump!”), count stairs, count toes in the bath and count blocks as you build a tower. Keep it to small numbers, use real things and stop while it’s still fun.

Should I teach written numbers or counting first?

Counting first. Counting real things is where numbers get their meaning. Written numbers are easier to learn once your child knows that “three” means three crackers. You can point out numbers on doors and books along the way.

Counting starts with small numbers and real things: two shoes, three blocks, five toes. Count slowly, touch each thing and laugh when someone loses count at seven. And when you want a short, calm English lesson to go with all that counting, start a Tatako lesson together.