It is very easy to assume that children can count, but it is something that does need practice. Rhymes such as 'One, two, three, four, five, Once I caught a fish alive....' are really helpful when beginning to learn to count but there are less of these when it comes to the teen numbers. The key is to use every opportunity to ask questions, such as: What number comes after 11? What number comes before 14? and practice counting up and down in ones from different starting positions. It is also important to see whether children have understood that if a set of objects is rearranged it will still have the same number of objects. Practical counting of buttons, cubes, bricks etc can help with this as well as a tray of different objects. After Christmas, with new presents, wrappings, food etc, there are lots of practical activities which are ideal for counting forwards and backwards. Go to Count up to 20 objects