Teach your child the size concept

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The size concept refers to a child’s ability to discriminate between different sizes including big and small, full and empty, long and short, little or one and a lot or more, far and close as well as thick and thin.

This concept develops in a specific sequence and it is important for parents to keep it in mind when teaching little ones new concepts.

Cement the size concept with your child by doing a variety of activities instead of just repeating one over and over. Teach them one concept at a time and wait until they can answer each question correctly every time and have a good grasp of each activity before moving on the next one. 

Remember that your little one should learn at their own pace and enjoy the learning process. When you notice them struggling to learn a new concept or get frustrated with an activity, it is a good idea to stop for a while and try again later. If they still struggle, you can go back to the previous concept for a little while.

The developmental process and sequence is as follows:

1. Your child learns to distinguish different sizes by using their own body as a reference. Help them to see that they are for example shorter than the tree in your garden and bigger than their baby brother.

2. The next step is for your little one to distinguish between different sizes on a three dimensional level. They can for example see that the red crayon is longer than the green crayon and the blue block is thicker than the yellow block.

3. Thereafter your child will start distinguishing between sizes on a two dimensional level. When they page through a book or do exercise in an activity book for example, they will see when something is bigger than something else on another page.