Numbers & math
Teddy bus
- Builds: Adding and taking away
- 10 min
- Ages 4–6
- Calm
- No mess
From the house
- A big cardboard box or a row of chairs
- Up to 10 teddies or toys
How to play
- Make a bus from the box and put 3 toys on board.
- At the first stop, 2 more get on: ask how many are on the bus now, then count to check.
- At the next stop, 1 gets off: how many are left?
- They drive and call out who gets on and off, and you work out the answers.
Fit it to your child
- Easier: Keep it under 5, with one toy getting on or off at a time.
- Harder: Say each stop as a sum, “3 and 2 makes 5”, and see if they can answer before counting.
Words to use
- on
- off
- more
- left
- how many
- altogether
Why it helps
Toys getting on and off make adding and taking away something they can see and touch, long before written sums.