• Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Meet Sarah
  • Playful Days
  • Shop Resources
  • Search

How Wee Learn

Out of the box learning ideas, playful art, exploring nature, and simple living - that is How We Learn!

  • Quiet Time
  • Letters and Numbers
  • Art
  • Science
  • Get Outside
  • Shop

Simple and Hands-On Counting Activities!

August 11, 2018 by Sarah Leave a Comment

Teaching kids their numbers doesn’t need to be tricky – it can truly be as easy as 1, 2, 3! The trick is to know exactly what you need to teach.

Counting activities for preschoolers should be fun and engaging. I have found some great ones to share with you. Just before we dive into this, I want to clarify something.

There are 3 distinct parts of teaching preschoolers their numbers:

  1. Counting
  2. Number Recognition
  3. One-to-one Correspondence

So, what exactly are these three things and how do they make up the foundation for preschool math?

Counting is simply reciting the numbers aloud and can be taught through songs and play.  Counting activities for kids are different than seeing a ‘2’ and counting to 2 – counting is simply practicing the order of the numbers, saying aloud, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10”

Counting activities for kids! These are the best and simplest counting activities for preschoolers - great for teaching kids their numbers. #numbers #counting #preschool #parenting

recognizing numbers is the skill of seeing a “4” and knowing it is a “Four”.

And finally, one-to-one correspondence is counting objects one at a time – such as counting 6 ducks on a page in a book.

Now that we know there are 3 separate areas for teaching children their numbers, it helps us to understand why this skill can take some time for little ones to learn. Playing with all three of these areas is key!

I write in detail about oodles of ways to practice all of these skills (as well as the other 4 math skills preschoolers need to be kindergarten ready) in my eBook, Play into Math Readiness. 

Today, I thought I would share a few fun activities you can play with your preschoolers to help them with these skills. For the sake of simplicity, I will call these skills Counting Activities for Preschoolers – even though we know there is more at play here than only counting.

 Simple Counting Activities for Preschoolers:

  • Learning numbers with painters tape: this game is a favourite at home.  We love painters tape and use it for playing pretty much daily!  For this activity I shaped the painters tape into numbers and we played lots of games.  Sam loves when I call out a number and action, like ” sit on the number 4″ or “do a donkey kick on the number 7”

number activities for preschoolers

  • Popcorn snowman counting is such a fun preschoolers number game. Little ones can add popcorn “snowballs” to their snowmen counting aloud as they go! This activity also ties in one-to-one correspondence, making it an ideal math activity for preschoolers

Practice counting and numbers with this cute snoman activity for preschoolers that uses popcorn!

  • This counting game is full of magic! What is the number that you see? If you are correct, you will know straight away due to an explosion! (Well, preschoolers will think it’s an explosion anyways!)

counting games

  • This cloud hopping game by Learn Play Imagine is a great way to practice number recognition with preschoolers! It is one of my boys favourite counting activities right now.

Counting activities for kids! These are the best and simplest counting activities for preschoolers - great for teaching kids their numbers. #numbers #counting #preschool #parenting

  • My kids love playing with blocks, and writing the numerals on the side is a great way to practice number recognition.  The Imagination Tree wrote about many math activities they use with homemade number blocks.

Counting activities for kids! These are the best and simplest counting activities for preschoolers - great for teaching kids their numbers. #numbers #counting #preschool #parenting

  • This Monster Number activity was done for Halloween, but could easily be adapted to fit any time of year!  It is a very fun a and simple craft, and excellent for practicing number recognition and tons of other math activities for preschoolers too!
  • Hands on as We Grow has a fun Number Recognition Maze – a fun and playful preschool number activity!

Counting activities for kids! These are the best and simplest counting activities for preschoolers - great for teaching kids their numbers. #numbers #counting #preschool #parenting

  • Dot-to-dots are a great way to practice number recognition. B Inspired Mama has a fantastic idea for making a huge dot to dot perfect for preschoolers!

Counting activities for kids! These are the best and simplest counting activities for preschoolers - great for teaching kids their numbers. #numbers #counting #preschool #parenting

  • Here is a great number song for practicing number formation on Youtube by Dr. Jean.  It is also a great rhyming way to help wee ones remember which number is which!

I hope you found some of these ideas helpful – they really are fun ways to practice the skill of recognizing numbers. Teaching kids their numbers is really as easy as 1 (counting), 2 (recognizing numbers), and 3 (one-to-one correspondence)!

Counting activities for kids! These are the best and simplest counting activities for preschoolers - great for teaching kids their numbers. #numbers #counting #preschool #parenting

If you want to learn more playful ways to get your little one Kindergarten Ready for Math, please be sure to check out my eBook, Play into Math Readiness!

Thank you so much for reading friends, I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Filed Under: All Ages, Kindergarten, Learn, Letters and Numbers, Numeracy, Preschooler Tagged With: counting, math, numbers, preschool

« Wild-Child Wind Spinner
Awesome Bracelets for Kids to Make »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 512 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, other. Drop file here

Annual Sale Save $40 and Get FREE Shipping on the Kindergarten at Home Curriculum!
Did you know that 90% of a child's brain growth happens before age 6? Play into Kindergarten Readiness

Visit my Sponsor Oak Meadow

Follow How Wee Learn

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
For every step of your journey
  • For Ages 1.5-3
  • For Ages 3-5
  • For Ages 4-6
  • For Ages 6-8
  • For Ages 6-12

Shop Resources


Copyright © 2023 · How Wee Learn · Privacy Policy · designed by blogger boutique · Genesis Framework

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
1101 shares