24 Short and Sweet Preschool Maths Activities.

Do you ever have the problem of, having found great maths activities for your little one, not being able to remember any of them when that magic moment happens,when they are happy, calm and ready for an activity?

I was inspired by this great calendar of maths activities from Anne’s Teaching Two blog, to create a list of short and sweet preschool maths activities. Put them in a calendar like Anne has or just print off the list and put on your fridge!

24 Preschool Maths Activities

1. Muffin tin maths – Nurture Store has a tasty maths activity, counting out chocolate chips into a muffin tin labelled with numbers.

2. I-spy Shapes – Play this traditional game but look for”…something shaped like a ….circle”

3. Shoe cupboard tidying – Tidying and sorting shoes is the perfect maths activity for a clutter free entrance hall.

4. Table laying – Arranging cutlery on the table is another useful maths activity for developing sorting skills

5.Watch a Sesame Street counting video online – The Sesame Street website has lots of short maths videos, many including my favourite, The Count!

6. Sandwich Making - When making a sandwich for your preschooler, ask them to help you cut it into halves or quarters (or even eighths!)

7. Bring me 5 – Choose a number, such as 5, then ask your little one to bring you 5 cars, 5 books, 5 blocks or 5 of anything they can easily carry!

8. Time announcing – Start by announcing the time when you see it’s at the hour, “It’s 3 o’clock!”

9. Hopscotch – Even preschoolers will enjoy helping to draw a hopscotch grid and then hop from number to number, forwards then backwards.

10. Number Hunting – Draw a number 4 on a piece of A4 paper, then hide the number behind a cushion (but not completely hidden). Help your toddler hunt for Number 4.

11. Play a colours and shapes online game Oscar’s Trash Collection – This time use the Sesame Street website to play online maths games.

12. Draw around bowls – Grab a blank piece of paper and help your little one draw around upturned bowls to create a circle picture.

13. Play dough numbers - Roll out play dough snakes with your toddler, then form into numbers.

14. Number chart counting – Put up a number chart and let your child be a preschool maths teacher.

15. Which is heavier –  take 2 objects, hand them to your toddler and ask, “Which is heavier!”

16. Play a matching game online animal parade – Each of my 3 older children have sat at the computer and played this cute animal matching game from the BBC Website.

17. I spy colours – Play this traditional game but look for”…something …..blue!”

18. Odd one out – Lay out 3 objects, 2 similar and 1 different and ask “Which is the odd one out!”

19. M&M patterns - Another tasty maths activity, again from Teaching Two. Create a pattern sequence using M&M’s, then colour in each part to match the pattern.

20. Sing  a maths song  - Ten in a bed is my favourite but here’s a great list of numberful rhymes

21. Sock matching – Another tidying and sorting activity.

22. Cutlery drawer  sorting – Yet another sorting activity, this will keep the cutlery drawer nicely organised.

23. Swing counting – Count aloud as you swing your preschooler at the park. When it’s time to get off the swing count down from 10 to 1.

24. Sticker Sorting - Shannon at  Tot school shows how stickers can be used for a lovely maths activity. Take a sheet of stickers, a blank sheet of paper and sort into groups.

Share your short, sweet preschool maths activities in the comments below!

This post also features in Works for me Wednesdays.

Tagged As: ideas, preschool, resources