Exploring Numbers Through the Sense of Touch

Whew, we took quite a break since first starting this series! Adding two new family members will do that to a blogger, though. Now we’re getting back on track and I’m sharing the fourth post in our “Exploring Numbers through the Senses” series. We’ve already completed sight, sound, and taste, today is all about touch.

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Supplies

• Textured foam puzzle
• Empty wipes container

I removed all the number pieces from the puzzle and placed them inside the wipes box. Both my boys had a chance to participate in the activity (which is very similar to our “What Pet Should I Get” activity), but my nearly four year old seemed to understand the goal better. 

I asked the boys to reach into the wipes container and feel around for the number puzzle pieces. The goal was to try to identify the number by touch, before looking at it.

There were far more playful guesses than accurate ones, but it was all fun! Through this activity the boys had a chance to isolate their sense of touch and explore the curves and lines that make up each number. Fitting them into the puzzle afterwards added another element of learning as they matched the numbers to the correct place on the puzzle.

The puzzle itself is also textured, so tracing each number afterwards was a second way to learn about numbers with our hands (hands-on-learning for the win!)

How else would you teach numbers through the sense of touch? Leave me your ideas in the comments below!