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.
For more great preschool math resources check out the following posts:
The 16 Best iPhone and iPad Math Apps for Preschoolers
11 Best Math Learning Toys For Preschoolers
This is a sweet post! So many ideas to apply, thanks!
This is such a great list of ideas! I’m sure my three year old would love the muffin tin idea and number hunting! Thanks!
Thanks for passing by! Yes my 3 year old loves the number hunting as well!
Some great ideas here! Recently I have also been using some of the free counting and numeration activities from
http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/ECAM.html with my daughter and she is really enjoying them.
Caroline, I loved all the ideas to introduce number/counting activities to preschool age children. I have 3 grandsons ages 4, 3 and 17 months. The older 2 are learning so much at their age and are soaking up anything you teach them.
Thanks for all the great ideas! I can use many of them.
Your friend,
Lynn
Hi Caroline. This is a fabulous site. I think parents can feel so overwhelmed when trying to help their kids with math. This site will definitely empower them and this blog will help their children get off to a great start.
Wishing you a song in your heart,
Miss Leslie @ Music with Miss Leslie.com
Thanks Miss Leslie for your kind comments! Yes it can be overwhelming for parents, I always have a slight panic when it comes to supporting my children’s language learning so I can fully empathise. There are lots of useful resources that parents can make use of, including some that use music to help aid memorisation.
Caroline great tips here. I don’t have kids but if I did this would be the page I bookmark and use to help with math problems.
I can tell you are very devoted to your craft.
Steve
Great resource for preschool math activities.
I like this. I also prefer less usage of computer when it comes to learning yes I know alot of information we could get but I will still have the guidance on don’ts in from of the pc.
Wow! Those short and sweet preschool math activities are really cool and awesome. For sure the kids will love this. Thanks for sharing this to us.
Great and really helpful post for teachers as well as the parents. For sure the kids will really love doing these stuff while learning. Keep posting!
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I’ve recently created an Android app for my young grandchildren to help them learn to count and they love it.
Counting Creatures is a counting game for ages 4-6 that uses pictures of real creatures to teach children how to count up to 10.
Children can: count the creatures and press the correct number; count the creatures and press the correct word; touch count each creature up to the correct number; touch first one creature then the other to learn the many ways two numbers add up to ten.
There are also interesting facts to learn about the creatures. Meet Bessie Beetle, Gregory Grasshopper and their friends.
The app has no adverts and no in-app purchases.