Numbers Playdough Mats

The counting companion to the ABC mats. Every number from 1 to 20 gets a mat of its own: a wide road shaped like the numeral with a circle every few centimetres, a ten frame to fill with the same number of playdough balls, pompoms or beans, and the number word underneath to trace. After ten the mat shows two frames side by side, so a child can see that 10 and 4 make 14 long before anyone explains it. Laminate them once and they last for years. Then say One, two, buckle my shoe and act out every line — touch your shoes, knock on the door, flap like a hen — and roll a playdough ball for every number. Draw a caterpillar (count its circles) and a rocket, join the dots to find a train, finish the other half of a ladybug, spot the difference, sort what you can eat and find the way through three mazes.