Hands-On Math Activities for Your Preschooler
At every age, hands-on math activities are engaging and fun. For preschoolers, they’re especially important, because little ones learn best when they can experience things with all their senses.
You can use nearly any situation to teach basic math skills, which makes finding hands-on math activities for your preschooler easy. Try these simple games to help your preschool child master basics like counting, comparing numbers, recognizing patterns, and more.
Use Small Items To Pick and Count
Fill a divided dish with a variety of small items, like toys or snacks. Then, draw big circles on a large piece of paper and write a number in each. Instead of a numeral, you can also place a number of dots in some circles. Then, let kids choose a circle and count out items from the dish to put into it. Make sure they count out loud as they go. This simple activity from Engaging Littles is one you can repeat over and over, increasing the numbers as kids get older.
Bonus Activity Idea: Rather than collecting items in advance, send kids out to look for items to place in each circle. This is especially fun outside, where kids can gather leaves, acorns, stones, and other items. A hunt like this also helps kids sort items into categories, another key pre-K math skill.
Repurpose Your Deck of UNO Cards
This game from Still Playing School is going to become your preschooler’s favorite! Assign a motion to each color–for example, red cards mean hop on one foot, or green means twirl around. Take turns flipping over a new card from the deck, then complete the motion for that color the number of times indicated on the card. In other words, if you draw a red “8,” you hop on one foot eight times, counting out loud as you go.
Bonus Activity Idea: You can do a lot of hands-on math activities for preschoolers with a deck of UNO cards. Have them sort the cards by color or number, or lay them out in correct numerical order. Use them to play Go Fish, which is terrific for helping kids sort and compare. Or, pull out all the “special” cards and use the number cards for an easy game of War.
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Fish for Numbers
Use a kiddie pool, water table, or even the bathtub to fish up some number practice! (Remember to supervise kids at all times around water. You can also play this game on dry land.) Learn how to make foam fish and a DIY fishing rod at Buggy and Buddy. Then float the fish facedown on the water, and let your little one drop in a rod and pull one out. As they do, have them say the number out loud, and practice counting from one up to that number.
Bonus Activity Idea: There are many ways to use this homemade fishing set for building math skills. Challenge kids to catch only fish of one color. Or, turn the fish so they’re floating number-side up, and see if your little one can catch the fish in numerical order. As kids get older, they can practice their math facts by catching two numbers at a time, or add up their catches to see who scores the most points.
Grab Your Dominoes
As the Busy Toddler knows, dominoes are terrific for hands-on preschool math activities. Start by laying out a number line made from sticky notes. Then, have your child select a domino and count the total number of dots. Lay that domino next to the corresponding number to practice the skill known as one-to-one correspondence (matching numerals with a group of items).
Bonus Activity Idea: Don’t put those dominoes away just yet! Lay them all out face up, then call out a number. Let your child count the number of dots on each to find one (or more) that matches. Over time, they’ll come to recognize the patterns of dots, which leads to a more advanced skill called subitizing (estimating a number of items with a quick glance). As kids advance, use dominoes to practice math facts too.
Cut and Sort Paper Strips
Give small fingers some fine motor skills practice by having your child cut paper into strips of different lengths. Then, use the free printable from Kinder Craze (or make your own) and have them sort the strips to see which are shorter and which are longer. They can also sort by color and other attributes.
Bonus Activity Idea: Paper strips are just the beginning. Take a look around your house or yard for similar items, then compare them to see which is bigger or smaller, taller or shorter, heavier or lighter, etc. The more kids practice sorting and comparing, the better equipped they’ll be to move on to more advanced skills.
Lay Out Colorful Craft Stick Patterns
You can buy pre-colored wooden craft sticks, or have fun painting your own. Grab the free printable pattern cards from Playdough to Plato, then have your toddler lay out craft sticks in the right order to match what they see. You can also have them practice making their own repeating patterns, or lay out your own designs for them to copy.
Bonus Activity Idea: Wood craft sticks are terrific for preschool math skills practice. Have children use the sticks to make different shapes, counting the sides and naming them as they go. Teach them how to use tally markers with the sticks, keeping score during a game or counting the number of cars that go by. The possibilities are endless!
Turn Building Bricks Into Math Tools
When you use toys for hands-on preschool math activities, kids won’t even realize they’re learning. Life Over C’s has free printable cards to use with your building bricks. Children learn to match colors and patterns as they create the numerals, and their fine motor skills get a workout too.
Bonus Activity Idea: Count the studs (the raised circles) on each brick, and sort them by number, shape, or color. Build towers to compare taller and shorter, or use a marker to write numbers on the sides and put the bricks together in numerical order. Put together a row of alternating colors in a pattern (red, blue, green, red, blue, green, etc.). Building bricks have so many math applications.
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