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a hundred board goes a long way. they come in poster sizes and you may even be able to download one online for free to blow up...

My first thought would be to find some really great fonts and print them in different colors on your computer, or trace/cut them out on poster board or construction paper. Then cover both sides with clear contact paper and cut them out.

We have a "math deck" we picked up at an educational/discount store. it's literally a deck of cards. All of the numbers are articulated in numeral form, dot fraction...and the graphics are easy on the eyes. Crisp white cards, subtle light blues black. The size, a deck of cards, is handy, and easy to store away also.

2 1/2 is a bit young to be working on double digit numbers. You'd be better off reading "Chicka Chicka 123" and Donald Crews' "10 Black Dots" rather than drilling him on numbers. Kids don't start recognizing numbers by sight until around four years old. And finding numbers in environmental print (signs, cereal boxes, books, etc) is another great way to work with numbers.

(fyi, I was a preschool teacher for six years, and now I work with preschoolers in a library setting).

As another former preschool teacher - I wholeheartedly agree with perdita27. 2 1/2 is very young to be stressing about learning double digits. Just Stop. Stop competing. Stop pushing. Start enjoying your toddler and what they are doing instead of pushing them to learn things that are simply not important to their educational needs as a toddler. Just start enjoying.

I think she said her son loves numbers, and she's not pushing him, is she? It sounds like he already recognizes numbers to 20, and I know other tots do know numbers by sight before the age of four, mine included. If the kid is interested in numbers, why is following his interest wrong?

My recently turned 3 year old does recongnize numbers and letters. He loves spelling and sounding out words even if they aren't quite correct and counting things beyond 20. It's stuff they are exposed to every day, so a lot of kids will pick it up. It's great that your son enjoys it and I think it certainly can be encouraged without pushing.

You can also cut out numbers on sandpaper. Kids are fascinated by the texture and like to touch the numbers. Anything with texture would would work. Also, getting him a calendar to mark off each day would be fun and in time he might pick up the pattern especially if you talk about days and the number before and after today, etc. They do calendar a lot in preschool to kinder so he will be acquainted with it. You can also make little charts and glue the amount of things on the numbers such as for "3", he has three handprints or three beans. My ideas are more for 1-20 but if you want to make it harder for 21-100, you can use tens and hundreds blocks or glue ten beans on a popsicle stick and use these as tens. Also, you can make or buy a number line that goes to 100.

Is it possible to agree with all of the above posters?

I'm a math teacher/consultant and I agree 2.5 is a bit young for that. Recognizing/naming numbers is less important than being able to identify the quantity, one to one correspondence, etc. If your goal is to increase his math abilities, lots of research supports focusing on ten, what it means, how to make it, etc.

At the same time, I know what it is like to have an enthusiastic toddler and to want to encourage the enthusiasm. So as long as feeding his enthusiasm is the goal, then I'd suggest...
*Hundreds board (I really like the 0-99 variety)
*Looking into Montessori math materials
*0-9 cookie cutters - make cookies, cut the numbers out of clay, etc.
the calendar suggestion was also a good one

Good luck and have fun.

I agree that you shouldn't push it, but my daughter also loves numbers and letters, and her interest started around 2 1/2. Just be warned that his interest in such things may come and go and he may be inconsistent, so don't set your expectations too high, and keep it fun.

A good way to make fun flash cards is to use a program like Word and set the font to something like 300 points (play around with the size) and print them out. You can also set the font to "outline" mode and make simple coloring sheets of letters and numbers. When he gets older, Kumon makes all kinds of workbooks that my daughter loves.

second all those who agree 2.5 is too young! I'm also a preschool teacher - promoting early numeracy does not have to involve flashcards or rote memorization.

exposure to concepts of counting, value, and the visual symbols through song, books, pictures, and everyday activities (counting items going into your grocery bag, talking about money when counting out change, making observations about what you see and how many), a colourful, kid-friendly abacus, etc. should suffice and be sure to take notice of and expand on concepts that your child takes interest in continuously!

My son is also crazy about numbers and was hungry for more very young.

He loves calendars and calculators.

You could print out some large letters in a readable font, cut them out, and trace them onto craft foam. Voila, cheap & easy numbers!

If you know someone who sews, this might be a great gift: http://ohsohappytogether.blogspot.com/2009/07/rag-quilt-letters-tutorial.html

I second the Montessori idea. There are a lot of fun math things with Montessori - things like "golden beads" that have 100 individual beads, sets of 10 beads, sets of 100 beads...I know my son (3) likes to make "big numbers" with the sets, even if he can't name the number exactly. Here's a link to some of the Montessori math materials: http://www.montessorimaterials.com/Mathematics.htm If you do a google search for each material, it will tell you how to use them (and often, how to make it at home).

Oh, and I know that early math isn't *necessary* but I, too, know what it's like to have a child interested in big ideas. My husband is a bioengineering PhD student, so our kiddo gets exposed to a lot of math and science just hanging around his dad, and it gets his curiosity up! We do a little Montessori preschool rotation with some friends at homes, and it's been a good way to explore some of those big concepts without pushing it, since they get to explore what interests them.

I agree with some of the above posters: Teaching numbers to 100 is actually a disservice, unless it is done right. I spent a lot of time as a teacher (1st grade) trying to undo the damage. The way math works, you never count higher than 9. When you reach 10, it is time to move into the bigger house with a different name (tens, hundreds, etc.). Until a child understands this (which won't happen at 2.5), they really should not deal with double digits. (In English it is very confusing, anyway... twenty, etc. In some other languages it is e.g. "three-tens-two", instead of "thirtytwo" which is so much easier for a child to understand.)

For dd the best things were little games where she had to count something and then matched that with the right number card.

Thank you all! All inputs are really valuable - He is really interested in numbers - even when I am reading him a book he is more interested in the page number than the book!