The recognition that a number symbol represents a quantity is a very important step in building math skills for a young child. Ask your child to pick up various quantities of objects. “Pick up 2 shoes,” “Pick up 3 socks.” As the tasks become easier for them you can add more than one object to pick up. “Pick up 1 orange and 4 apples.”
For an older and more capable child you can make the task more complex by choosing larger numbers. You can even make them into math equations.
e.g.
“Find Shoes for 3 – 2 =” (find 1 shoe)“Find Oranges for 2 + 2 =”(find 4 oranges)