Your child can use nonstandard measuring items for practical purposes too. Exactly the opposite. When you use the comparative language of opposites, you are helping your child learn about proportion and number relationships. Now do the opposite. Tally the score.
Children learn tally marks quickly because they are connected with an action or event.
For children over 3 who no longer put objects in their mouth, instead of tally marks, use objects such as buttons, beads, or coins and count five of each into egg carton sections. Your child may not really understand what the numbers mean, but she will see that they get larger and larger as the cart gets fuller and fuller. When you get home, play with the change that is left over. Your child may be becoming interested in money, and although she may not understand the value of each coin, she can begin to sort the pennies and other coins she is collecting. She can match them by size or color.