Toddler Arabic Week 3: Numbers 1–10 — الأرقام (il-ar'am)

Part of the Toddler Arabic series — one toddler-sized topic each week, taught realistically in the cracks of a busy schedule.

The focus this week is numbers one through ten. I'm planning to attach counting to things we already do on repeat — stairs, snacks, toes — so the numbers arrive for free. The goal isn't him counting to ten by Friday; it's him hearing the sequence so often it starts to feel like furniture.

This week's words

• واحد (wahad) — one
• تنين (tnen) — two
• تلاتة (tlateh) — three
• أربعة (arb'a) — four
• خمسة (khamseh) — five
• ستة (sitteh) — six
• سبعة (sab'a) — seven
• تمانية (tmeneh) — eight
• تسعة (tis'a) — nine
• عشرة ('ashara) — ten

How we practiced

• Stair counting: one number per step, every single trip up — built-in repetition. My mom does this in English so I have started to do this in Arabic when I'm with him.
• Snack math: counting blueberries into the bowl (and recounting after he eats three).
• Bath time: counting fingers and toes — captive audience.
• Cleanup countdown: counting toys into the bin — occasionally it even doubles as a cleanup trick.
• I count: I have certain tasks I always count in. For example, when I put him into his car seat, I count to three in Arabic. He doesn't have to participate, but he hears me doing it.

Free printables & activities

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How I love Arabish Way, you should definitely check them out more; however, here is a printout of Arabic numbers if you are wanting something graphic to show your little ones.

From our playlist

Two number songs on our playlist this week: الأرقام ١ إلى ١٠ (Numbers 1 to 10) by Adam Wa Mishmish, and Keno 3ashra 3a Sarir (Ten in a Bed) by Lila TV — the Arabic version of a song he already knows the tune to, which is cheating in the best way.

How it actually went

Numbers were the easy win this week — honestly, as they were not really new. We’ve been counting to ten with him long before this, so the sequence was already there; this week just put an extra effort on something he could mostly already do and to counter active the English he hears everywhere else. The most low-effort week yet, and I’ll happily take it.

Stuck / flopped

What I didn’t do much of was actually show him the numbers. We don’t have a puzzle with the Arabic numerals, so there was nothing tactile for him to match the shapes to — it stayed all verbal. An Arabic number puzzle is officially going on his Eid list, and that’s the piece I’d have worked on if I’d had it. Also I may have leaned into the low-effort week a little too much and I had opportunity to review colors and shapes from the prior weeks.