This set of 72 All About Me Family Counters by Learning Resources is great for imaginative play, since the different shapes and colors help kids to build self-awareness by identifying different members of the family. Over at 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 blog, momma Carisa uses them in her homeschool classroom to reinforce early math skills such as patterning and counting.
Sharlyn Petit is a Northwest-obsessed, annoying iPhone food-documenting, day-tripping fool. By day, she's an HR communications specialist, but she spends every other waking minute as a freelance writer and editor for food, travel and lifestyle content. Born in Hawaii and raised in Alaska, she left the coconuts and survival camps behind long ago for a quiet life in the Emerald City with her French husband.