Learning to figure out a mystery helps develop critical thinking skills. For the next few weeks, we’ll use a mystery theme to help children recognize and name numbers from 1 to 10. During Circle Time, discuss the characteristics of a mystery. Inform them that a person who solves mysteries is called a detective. Today, they are all going to be number detectives. Hold up hats one at time. One each hat has a number from one to ten. Ask the children to name each number. Now give each child a hat to wear. Ask them to search counting books for their numbers. Younger children should focus on numbers 1 to 5 before including 6 to 10. Once they find their numbers, switch hats so each child has a chance to find all the numbers. There are many wonderful number books available at your local library. Check out this week’s free lesson plan for a list of number books.