Counting and Numbers
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Counting and Number Activity Theme
Another Counting and Number Theme is in the Rainbow Resource Room!Birthday Cake Counting
Game
This teacher made game by Pamela W.
encourages number recognition, counting and fine motor skills.
Materials: Wood, drill, paint (for making the board), birthday cards that show a numeral for each age - up to age 10 and birthday candles.
Description: This is a one or two person
game to make for choice time.
To make the board, cut a circle or square
from a 2" thick pine board and drill
10 holes 3/8" in diameter part of the way
through the board. Paint the board to look like cake (brown paint
with white or pink for frosting looks nice).
To play the game, a child selects a birthday card, looks at the numeral on the card and puts that number of candles on the cake. You may need to explain that there is no 'extra candle to grow on' used in this game. You can substitute cut dowels for the candles but the children seem to like the candles better.
An entire Birthday Activity Theme is in the Rainbow Resource Room.
Ice Cream Cone
Match Game
Promote visual discrimination and number
recognition skills with this early childhood activity by Susan C.
Materials: Brown, green, pink and white tag board. Colored construction paper, paper punch, scissors, glue or rubber cement, clear contact paper or laminate, and a black felt tip marker.
Description:
1. Trace and cut ice cream cones from
brown tag board. The number
prepared should
depend on the developmental level of the kids.
2. Trace and cut ice cream scoops
from pink, green and white tag board.
3. Use paper punch to make dots out
of construction paper.
4. Glue varying numbers on dots onto
the ice cream scoops.
5. Print a number on the ice cream
cone that corresponds with the number of
dots on the ice
cream scoop.
6. On the back of the ice cream scoop,
print the number that corresponds to the
amount of dots
on the other side, so the game is self correcting.
7. Cover all pieces with clear contact
paper or laminate.
Math Muffin Tins
Preschool children recognize numbers, count
and sort during this activity by Chris.
Materials: Cupcake paper liners, felt tip marker, poker chips or anything they can count and sort.
Description: Teachers with marker, on the
muffin liners write numbers 1-10 and then have the kids count and sort
that many items into each liner.
Number Hunt
Ali promotes number
recognition and encourages preschool children to place numbers in order
during this early math activity.
Materials: A set of number cards relevant to your children, 0-10 or 1-5 depending on abilities. Try writing the number and corresponding dots along with the number word on each card.
Description: In advance, teachers discuss the number cards with the children. Next, children sit down and close their eyes, then the teacher hides number cards around the room. Children now have to find the numbers. When they find the numbers they arrange them in to order. This activity can be played in the garden where more exciting hiding places can be found.
By cutting different shapes e.g. fish for the number cards the game can be theme based. When using fish, I ask the children to feed a shark with the fish in order. The shark is a cardboard box with a toothy mouth cut in it. If you make a hole in the back of the box you can put your arm inside and grab the fish from the children like a real shark. The children really enjoy learning number concepts this way.
Comments: Just plain numbers are fun but by changing the shape of the numbers the children feel their playing another game and experience a great deal of number concept reinforcement.
For Story time:
Counting & Number
books are listed in Preschool Books
Listed by Theme
Caps and Cans
The children will move in locomotor and
non locomotor ways, use counting skills,
and eye hand coordination during this preschool
and kindergarten activity by Mae-Lena H.
Materials: Bottle caps, large coffee cans and a permanent marker.
Description: During free play introduce this game to a few children at a time. With the marker teachers number cans with dots (I used one through six). Let children count the number of dots on each can. Then let children try to toss that many caps into the can. Children will find this fun game among friends, seeing who can get more caps into the cans.
Comments: This was originally a beanbags
and cans activity, but I found that
the beanbags were too large to try and toss
into the cans.
Beanbag Fun!
Increase gross motor skills as youngsters
identify numbers, letter or shapes with this teacher made game by Wendy
U.
Materials: Cardboard box, cardboard, marker and bean bags.
Description: I made a bean bag game out of a cardboard box. First, I divided the box into 9 squares using cardboard pieces. I put one number in each spot of the box by writing the number 1-9 on the cardboard squares.. You could also use letters or shapes. The children then toss a bean bag into one of the squares and call out the number they land on.
Comments: This is a fun way to further develop
the children's understanding of
numbers, letters or shapes!
People Graph
Idea
Kindergarten and preschool children experience
creating their own graphs with this idea from Crystal M. that combines
counting and letter recognition.
Materials: Children's name tags and number cards.
Description: Ask children to wear their name tags. The teacher stands and the children come and stand in front of the teacher when the teacher says, "Ok, if your name has 1 letter in it come and stand here." The teacher then moves over and goes to the next number (2, 3, 4, etc.). Ask each child in the front of a line hold a number card that has the number of letters on it.
Then teachers ask questions like, "Which line has the most letters? Which line has the least letters? Are there any lines that are the same?"
Comment: Teachers can also make a graph on
the board .
Reinforcing Address
and Telephone Numbers
Encourage youngsters to learn their address
and phone numbers with these three preschool curriculum ideas by Elaine
M.
Materials: Heavy paper, access to laminator and permanent felt pens.
Description:
1. We have had a number of children
traveling with their families this year. I have invited the families
to send us postcards from their holiday destination. We look forward
to checking the mailbox to see if we have received any mail. We check
out the address, stamp and message.
2. We have created place mats that have the children's address, phone number and a stamp on them. We laminated the place mats and use them at snack time. Every day, we check each child's memory of one piece of information on their place mat.
3. The name tags that the children put on each day have their first name. When we are learning phone numbers, I print their phone numbers on the back. If they are having trouble remembering their telephone numbers, they have the option of checking the back of their name tags!
Comments: Most are pleased when they can tell you their telephone number by heart.
Comparisons
The number concepts of more
than and fewer than are promoted during this preschool education activity
by Patty.
Materials: Container with separate compartments such as an egg carton or muffin tin. Beads for stringing and strings of equal length.
Description: Have beads sorted in the compartments according to color. Children "copy" the teacher's pattern of stringing. Increase difficulty of the pattern by adding more colors and more beads, varying the numbers each time.
Easy to Make
Rhymes
When preschool and kindergarten teachers
make up simple rhymes as Sherry G. suggests, they promote children's
counting skills.
Materials: Paper (if you want to make charts) and pictures. I make charts and add 10 of whatever the rhyme is about.
Description: Remember the rhyme One potato, Two potato. I make a rhyme every month to go with what theme we are using - Halloween, Christmas, Apples, Fish etc. Here are two examples:
Counting FingerplayApples
One apple, two apples,
Three apples, four,
Five Apples, six apple,
Seven apples more
Eight apples, nine apples,
Ten apples in a pie.
Please give me a piece
Or I might cry.Christmas
One tree, two trees,
Three trees, four,
Five trees, six trees,
Seven trees more
Eight trees, nine trees,
10 trees to decorate.
Let's get busy,
It's getting late!
Sandy M. shares this new twist on an old chant in which preschool children use movement and rote counting skills.
Description: Have children in your circle on their feet, get a beat going with a clap and a stomp & say "Get your potatoes up! And let's count!" Hold up fists (potatoes) to count with fingers up as indicated:
One potato, two potato, three potato, four!
Well, I made a batch of hot potatoes
(bend forward and
stir as in a big pot)
Dropped 'em on the floor!!
(look shocked, and
put hands on face in surprise)
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, eight!
So I stomped 'em into mashed potatoes
(stomp feet while
walking forward a few steps and then back)
And plopped 'em on a plate
(hands out like plopping
potatoes on a plate!)
Nine potato, ten potato, can't believe my
eyes!
(cover and uncover
eyes in surprise)
The children ate 'em up and now they want
some french fries!!!
(Say to children "how
many?" and march with swinging arms and stomping feet while counting...)
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 fries!
(jump up and reach
over head to sky on 10)
"Again??"
Do the count again, faster
and a third time even faster then plop back down to sitting after the
last 10.
This is SO aerobic and the children love the notion of making mashed potatoes by stomping. Also intriguing to them is the faster and faster counting to ten.
Comments: Great for rainy days and to reinforce
rote counting in very young children. Preschool children also respond to
the familiarity and then novelty of the chant.
Counting Game:
Pot of Gold
Raelene J. helps preschool children
gain experience with one to one correspondence during this early childhood
activity.
Materials:
Any kind of large bean painted gold, a small
plastic cup (like the individual ones that applesauce comes in) painted
black, green Shamrocks glued on to heavier stock paper with numbers and
the appropriate amount of dots under the number.
Description: Teachers have the child pick a card with a number on it and see if the he / she knows the number. You then have the child put a gold "nugget" on top of the dots until all of the dots are full.
The children should be counting out loud when they are placing nuggets. For example, 3 gold nuggets on the dots of the number 3 card. This will help the children gain better knowledge of one-to-one correspondence.
Comments: The children enjoy playing with
the gold nuggets.
The St.
Patrick's Day Activities are
in the Rainbow Resource Room.
The Donut Shop
Game
Pat shares this circle time game
based on a familiar children's song and says, "This game teaches color
recognition and counting. The children love it! "
In advance cut out several different colored donuts from construction paper. Laminate and place them in a circle. Children sit in a circle.
The child picks up a colored donut and says the color donut and runs around the circle back to her spot. Repeat the song until all the donuts are gone.Song: The Bakery Shop (adapted)
Down around the corner at the bakery shop
There were 9 little donuts with the sugar on top,
Along came (child's name) all alone
She picked up the red one and she ran on home.
Counting and number fingerplays,
nursery rhymes and action songs are in the
Rhyme
Theme. Picture books about numbers are in Preschool
Book Themes
Counting
Game
Teachers introduce this short
rhyme, show young children how to hold their hands in a fist and then
act as the first leader.
One Potato, Two PotatoPlaying the game:
One potato, two potato,
Three potato, four,
Five potato, six potato,
Seven potato, more!
Preschoolers stand in a circle and hold out their hands in a fist with thumbs up. The leader takes one fist and begins counting off each fist by gently tapping them. When the leader needs to count his/her counting fist, tap it on the chin. When you get to "more", put that fist behind your back. Keep repeating the rhyme over and over until one fist is left. That preschooler is the winner and becomes the new leader.
Counting
Speckled Frogs
One of several creative activities contributed
by Karen M. This early math puppet activity is based on the rhyme
"Five Little Speckled Frogs" which is located in Preschool
Nursery Rhymes about Animals and is also below.
You will need:
The following rhyme, a green plastic
gardening glove, a black Sharpie marker, a tree branch.
Five Little Speckled
Frogs
Five little speckled frogs,
Sitting on a speckled log,
Eating the most delicious bugs, yum, yum.
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool.
Then there were four speckled frogs.
Continue until only one frog is left
One little specked frog.
Sitting on a speckled log,
Eating the most delicious bugs, yum, yum.
He jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool.
Now there are no speckled frogs.
"Here's a little different twist to one of the songs / rhymes you have. I took a green plastic gardening glove and a black Sharpie marker and made "speckles" all over the fingers, then made two eyes and a smile on the outside tip of each finger. l found an old "speckled" tree branch "log" in my yard.
I held the log with my left hand and "danced" the "frogs" ( my right gloved hand) while singing the song. When one dived into the pool, I jumped my right hand onto the floor space between me and the students and had the "frogs" wiggle around, sometimes touching the students shoes. Each time I took away a frog (folding a finger down) until when none were left I put my hands behind my back and took off the glove. The students really enjoyed the "puppet" show and practiced counting, too."
Additional Number
and Counting activities
can be found in the
Rainbow
Resource Room!
OR
Search the Preschool Rainbow
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