We do number and letter activities often and so I wanted to create an inexpensive, but durable mat for number/letter matching, recognition, and counting. I ended up making this simple mat with a rug from Ikea that had never found a good spot in our home. I was super pleased with its simplicity and the boys have enjoyed playing with it. Right now they mostly enjoy the counting side and have shown exceptional preference for counting edible things, like Cheerios. But I like that it’s pretty open ended in how it can be used and can continue to be used down the road for more advanced activities as well, like…