A big safety skill is for preschoolers is learning their phone number! But how do you teach your child your phone number and know that it will really stick? These phone number activities will definitely imprint on your child's memory, and you can feel a lot safer about sending them on that field trip! (But if you're anything like me, you're still sticking that Airtag in their pocket.)
Plus, scroll to the bottom for a HUGE safety tip once your child knows their phone number.
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Kids love to be like their parents, so for the first of the phone number activities, I suggest the obvious idea: use a toy phone to practice dialing the numbers together. My kids were always obsessed with this Leapfrog phone, which didn't sound annoying to me like most noisy kids' toys did.
Write the phone number on a large paper or board and cut it into pieces. Have children put the pieces back together as a puzzle while saying the numbers aloud. You can even tape them on the wall and have your child SWAT the phone number. This is a common teaching game I play with my kindergarten and first grader students when they need to memorize something.
Hide written copies of the phone number around the house. Let children find and gather all pieces, then read the number together. You could make this harder, by writing some that are incorrect and having your child sort all the phone numbers into categories. Add in a second phone number for their second grown up to make it even more challenging!
I loved this because the finished product was hung in our play room, and the kids constantly went back to it to practice my phone number. Then they asked to do it for dad's number too.
For this phone number activity you'll need:
Are your children obsessed with your phone? Print out this free coloring sheet by Twisty Noodle, have your kid decorate it, and then even cut it out. They can make their own little paper/cardboard phone and have them punch in the numbers for your phone number.
I always love to take the table activities and turn them into a gross motor activity to increase engagement with my young learners. Use chalk to write the digits from 0-9 in a hopscotch pattern, or any pattern of your choosing.
Have your child hop your phone number. They're practicing their number identification while getting some energy out! Win win!
There are so many different ways to build your phone number: you can use toothpicks, small toys, googly eyes, etc, but my kids' favorite is play dough! Sensory experiences are enjoyable to little kids, increasing the chance of them remembering your phone number by making the learning tactile and interactive.
Have them write your number in different mediums: chalk, paint, marker, crayon, etc.
Write the number in a secret code (e.g., a different symbol for each digit). Have children decode and then recite the number aloud. This activity is easily repeatable and guaranteed to get them to want to play again and again, creating more exposure to the numbers in order.
Another version of this game is to write your phone number with dominoes and have them decode based on the number of dots. Dominoes are an incredible way to engage your preschooler in tons of math skills, so if you have those here are some great ways to play with them you may not have thought of.
Create a short, repetitive story featuring a child who needs to call their parents' phone number, encouraging your child to remember it and say it with you. You can even repurpose a familiar story, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and insert that Goldilocks should have called her parents each time she tried something at the bears' house, but that she didn't. My kids thought it was super funny to say, "She should have called her mom to pick her up at (555) 555-5555, but SHE DIDN'T!"
Sing your phone number together. Just like that car commercial or that catchy tune you heard on the radio, songs are great memorization tools! Make up a little tune or take your kid's favorite song and replace the words with your phone number. There is no easier or more efficient way to teach your phone number, because music is SO memorable to little ones.
There you have it, the top 10 phone number activities to teach your phone number to your preschooler. These techniques can be used in combination with each other to help even kids as young as 2 years remember their parents' and loved ones' numbers.
Safety tip: Do you have an Alexa at home? My kids don't have cell phone, but we have learned that they can use Alexa to call us. They can call any phone number by telling Alexa to call that phone number or even saying call "Mom."
This is a bonus way to practice your phone number and really helpful in case of emergencies. I recommend trying it with your kids to make sure your device is hooked up and working.
In a time when so few people have house phones, I wonder what might happen if I have an accident and can't reach a phone (currently writing this with a very severed achilles tendon and unable to walk)! Well, if my phone is hard to find or my kids cannot unlock it, they know they can use our Alexa to call 911, their grandparents, my husband, anyone. I wish more people would know about this great safety tip, so if you find it helpful, please consider sharing this post with your friends and family.
