Playing our own way!

I am so excited to partner with Kidzlane today to bring you this post on fun ways to play with this Count and Match Egg Set!

You know how I have a slight obsession with our backyard chickens? Well, it turns out it might be contagious as my little ones do too. So when I saw this counting and matching toy which has an egg theme I was thrilled! I knew it would be a huge hit – and goodness was I right.

This egg set is really neat. It comes in a solid plastic egg carton with a dozen eggs. Each egg opens to reveal a colourful centre with a number. The number 1 egg is bright pink in the middle and has one small peg on one half of the egg, and one small indent on the other half of the egg so they fit together.

As soon as I saw this toy I knew there were so many possibilities for learning filled play! This toy is fabulous for teaching colours and numbers – but also for so much more. Here are some of the different ways we have been playing with this count and match egg set over the past week.

Match Me! This is such a fun and simple game that we like to play with a deck of cards – but these eggs work so perfectly. We separated the 12 eggs into 24 halves and lined them up in rows. My little ones then took turns turning over 2 halves trying to get the eggs to match.

If they did not match, they had to put them back in the same spots which made this a great game for strengthening memory skills. The vocabulary that emerged was fabulous as well! There was oodles of number talk as well as descriptive language about shades and tones of colours.

Playdough Stamps. Since these eggs are so solid and washable, they made ideal playdough stamps. We whipped up a batch of our favourite playdough and my little ones used the eggs to count, order their numbers, make patterns and make pictures too.

Since the number of pegs on the egg correspond to the numeral, this activity was fabulous for practising one to one correspondence. This skill is tricky for preschoolers to master, and this was such a fun way to practice. One to one correspondence is the skill of counting one ‘thing’ when saying each number, “1, 2, 3 …”

No Peeking! Since we are Canadian we always have winter toques handy, so we grabbed one for this game. A blindfold of any kind would work of course. I blindfolded my little ones and gave them each three eggs that had been separated.

They had to feel the pegs and the indents and try to match them up with only touch. So much learning happening with this simple game!

Imaginative Play. My little guys had so much fun setting up a shop and selling eggs. Sounds simple (and it was!) but also a fabulous way to learn. Their imaginations were flying as they made signs to advertise their shops and decided on prices too. Learning through play is so very powerful.

I just love finding simple, open ended toys like this to add to our collection. If you would like to grab your own set they are available on Amazon. Christmas is just around the corner – and nothing spreads Christmas cheer quite like an egg set! (At least in our chicken loving home…)

Thank you so much for reading friends, I hope you are having a wonderful week.