Easy math activity for preschoolers

Preschool Math Games and Activities to Engage Young Learners

Preschoolers have lots of important math skills to learn before they start kindergarten. Counting, number sense, sorting, patterns, comparing size, and so much more—these are all concepts toddlers need so they can move on to more advanced math concepts. These preschool math games and activities help kids master those skills in ways that are just as fun as playtime!

1. String beads on pipe cleaners

This is one of those classic preschool math games that has so many benefits for young learners. They get fine motor control practice along with learning to count, recognize numerals, and put numbers in order. All you need are pipe cleaners and beads.

Learn more: Laughing Kids Learn

2. Monster Dice Match

Rolling dice gives kids a chance to practice counting and subitizing. Get the printable for this free matching game at the link.

Learn more: The Measured Mom—Monster Dice

3.

You’ll find lots of dice-related preschool math games out there. In this one, kids roll the dice and then stack blocks together. They finish by counting the blocks all together, an early intro to addition.

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Learn more: Hands On as We Grow

4. Flip Uno cards to make a match

Get some memory practice while you learn numerals. Uno cards, with their bright and cheery colors and large numbers, are perfect for this, but regular playing cards work too.

Learn more: Primary Playground

5. Tag the number

We love that this game gives kids a chance to move! Tape up numbers on the wall (or write them on a whiteboard). Then have kids roll a die and run to tag the number that comes up. You can play this game in other ways too, like calling out the numbers randomly yourself, or taping the numbers in a variety of places around the room.

Learn more: This Reading Mama

6.

Stack building blocks and build a city skyline. You’ll get a different result every time, making this one of those preschool math games kids can play again and again.

Learn more: Cinta + Co.

7. Race to fill the cup

So simple and so fun! Grab a bin of math cubes or small toys and some plastic cups. Kids roll a polyhedral die (you can also try flipping playing cards or Uno cards) and place that many items in their cup. The first to completely fill their cup wins!

Learn more: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls—Fill the Cup

8. Hunt for numbers

Combine a sensory experience with some number practice. Fill a bin with sand, then bury playing cards for kids to find and match up.

Learn more: Busy Toddler/Number Hunt

9. Bounce a balloon

Everyone loves playing with balloons! Roll a die, then see if you can bounce a balloon into the air that many times without letting it hit the ground.

Learn more: Confidence Meets Parenting

10.

This is just like the original Cootie game, but no need to buy anything! Just cut beetle pieces from construction paper, then roll a die and see if you can be the first to assemble your bug!

Learn more: Teach Beside Me

11. Create shapes with sticks

Toddlers need to master their shapes, and this is a clever way to do it. Put together sets of wood craft sticks (use the same color for each shape) and let little fingers turn them into triangles, squares, and other shapes.

Learn more: Team Cartwright

12. Send bears into hibernation caves

Make “caves” from plastic bowls, then send little toy bears into “hibernation” in each one! Learn how the game works at the link.

Learn more: Pocket of Preschool

13. Park numbered cars

Vroom vroom! Number your toy cars to match the slots in a cardboard parking lot. Kids will have fun zooming them into the right places.

Learn more: B-Inspired Mama

14.

Dominoes are fantastic math learning tools. This game is a sneaky introduction to addition, as kids count up the total number of dots on each domino and put them in the proper place.

Learn more: Busy Toddler—Domino Line-Up

15. Copy ice tray patterns

Seeing and matching patterns is a key skill for preschoolers. Placing pom-poms into ice cube trays with plastic tweezers helps them work on fine motor skills too.

Learn more: Planning Playtime

16. Rubber Duck Math Race

In this game, kids race to see who can be the first to get their rubber duckies to 10 (or any number you choose). They roll a die and lay out tiles to move their duck. The twist? To get to 10 at the end, they must roll the exact number they need—no going over! Preschool math games like this help kids master counting to 10 and counting on.

Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime—Rubber Duck Race

17. Feed the LEGO monster

Sort LEGO bricks by color, shape, or number of dots. Then compare the number that wind up in each bag to learn the concept of “more or less.”

Learn more: Toddler Approved

18. Drop blocks into tubes

Upcycle some empty cardboard tubes by labeling them with numbers. Then drop small items like blocks or caps into the tubes to match the numbers.

Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime—Tube Counting

19. Compare numbers to music

Prep for this game by using dot markers on paper plates as shown (visit the link below for more examples). Each kid takes a plate and uses it to “drive” around the room as you play music. When the music stops, they find a nearby partner and compare what they see on each other’s plates (e.g., “8 dots is more than 4 dots. 1 green dot is less than 4 green dots.”). Then start the music up and repeat!

20. Hold a shape scavenger hunt

Preschool math students are learning to recognize shapes in their environment and also to categorize and sort. This scavenger hunt does it all! Send them out to find objects in the room that match the shapes. Then count and compare to see how many you have in each category.

Learn more: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls—Shape Scavenger Hunt

If you loved these preschool math games, be sure to check out 20 Simple and Fun Preschool Science Experiments and Activities.

Plus, get all the latest teaching tips and ideas when you sign up for our free newsletters!

Hands-On Math Activities for Preschoolers

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. See my disclosure policy for details.

Math is so fun to teach to preschoolers because there are a lot of daily activities that incorporate math. Preschoolers don’t need worksheets for math…they should learn through play and hands-on activities.

1. Patterns with Bears

Counting Bears are a great math manipulative to use with preschoolers. You can sort, count, or use them with patterns.

I created some pattern cards to help with this. The first page is an AB pattern, meaning two colors alternate in the pattern. The second page is an ABC pattern, meaning three are three colors in the pattern. For this activity, your preschooler will set the colored bear on top of the matching color to create a pattern. On the ABC pattern cards, the last circle is left empty. That is for your child to tell you what color it should be.

You can get the color patterns printable at the bottom of this post.

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

You can find more pattern activities here.

2. Sorting Colors with Bears

Sorting is a skill preschoolers should work on a lot. One way to sort is by color. We do this with our counting bears and a sorting mat.

You can get the sorting mat printable at the bottom of this post.

You can even use colored tape and pom poms to practice sorting! Add in some tweezers for some extra fine motor practice.

We also love counting mats! These are great for learning to count and working on one-to-one correspondence.

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

3. Money Muncher

A fun way to work on sorting is with the Money Muncher! It’s also a great activity for fine motor skills. To see all the fun details, click here.

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

4. Sorting Jelly Beans

Anytime we work with candy, my kids love it! You can sort M&Ms or jelly beans or whatever! To see how we did this with jelly beans, click here.

You can get the jelly bean sorting printable at the bottom of this post.

One more idea for sorting is by using toy animals. Have them sort by different characteristics, such as land animals and sea animals.

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

5. Graphing

Graphing is always good to introduce to preschoolers. It doesn’t have to be complex, but you can do a simple activity like graphing the types of transportation on a bar graph and use small pictures or toys (or I used erasers from The Dollar Tree).

Make graphing hands-on using apples! Even young preschoolers can begin learning about graphing with this activity.

Check out this free gumball graphing activity right here.

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

6. Shape Wheel

This is a fun activity for learning shapes! Just print this shape wheel and draw the same colored shapes onto clothespins. Have your child match the clothespin to the shape on the wheel. This is great for working on fine motor skills!

You can get the shape wheel printable at the bottom of this post.

Math Skill: Geometry

7. Shape Sorter

An easy way to practice shapes is with a Shape Sorter! I bought these shapes at Michaels Craft Store many years ago, but these 3D geometric shapes would be a good option if you’re interested in creating a Shape Sorter. Check out this post for details on how to make this easy math activity.

Math Skill: Geometry

8. Noodle Shape Cards

A neat sensory activity and a fun way to learn shapes are with noodles! See the post here to download the free shape cards.

Math Skill: Geometry

9. Foam Sticks

Learn shapes in the tub with these foam sticks! You can see how we did this here.

Another fun way to practice shapes is with the cookie shapes matching activity!

And my favorite way to teach about shapes is with my shape rhymes!

10. Dice Game

This is a really fun game! I took this Melissa & Doug wooden toy and put white circle stickers on the top of the pegs. I wrote numbers 1-6 and had 2 stars. I had my son roll the dice and whatever number it landed on, he would pound with a toy hammer. If the number he rolled was already down, he hit the star. Not only was this fun for him, but he was able to “subitize”, which simply means to recognize numbers instantly without counting the dots.

Math Skill: Number Concepts

11. Star Number Cards

Practice counting and recognizing numbers with star number cards. This one is great for working on one-to-one correspondence and fine motor skills.

You can get the star number printable cards at the bottom of this post.

Math Skill: Number Concepts

12. Ladybug Math

We made these adorable ladybugs and they were a hit! Not only were they fun to play with, but we did a lot of counting and sorting with them. Read all about it here.

Math Skill: Number Concepts

13. Balloons

Learn the order of numbers with this really fun game involving balloons! Check out the details here.

  Math Skill: Number Concepts

14. Estimating with Water

We learned about estimation with a dropper with some fun, hands-on water activities.

Math Skill: Measurement

15.  Pouring and Comparing

We practiced pouring skills with rice into these beakers. Then I had my son line them up from biggest to smallest. Using comparative words like big/small or empty/full help teach preschoolers about simple concepts of measurement. This is simple and you could elaborate on this activity.

One more easy way to practice measurement is with Unifix cubes. Place different lengths of tape on the floor or poster board. Then have your child use Unifix cubes to measure the lines. This is a simple way to practice counting, measuring, and comparing lengths.

Math Skill: Measurement

Lastly, check out this really easy and fun way to practice counting!

If you’re looking for digital math activities, make sure to check out my counting activities using Google Slides.

If you’d like to download the 5 free printables I shared in this blog post, just click on the button below!

Conditions for the development of mathematical concepts in preschool children in research activities

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Formation of mathematical knowledge in preschool children

Everyone knows that mathematics has unique opportunities for the development of children. It not only "puts the mind in order", but also forms the vital personal qualities of students - attention and memory, thinking and speech, accuracy and diligence, algorithmic skills and creativity. But for the effective development of children by means of mathematics, it is important to fully realize the possibilities of each age stage, so that each of the stages - including preschool childhood - becomes a stepping stone for the next.

Unfortunately, there is an opinion that a preschool child should only be able to count and write before entering school. And very often, all preparation for school comes down to the ability to count up to 100, perform actions with numbers up to addition and subtraction with the transition through the discharge, multiplication and division. However, such preparation generally does not solve the problem of successful education of children in school and can do more harm than good.

The fact is that at preschool age children have a well-developed mechanical memory - for example, you can remember how easily they master their native and foreign languages, memorize poems. It is not difficult for them to remember the ordinal count, and even remember the answer of example 32–15. However, children cannot meaningfully solve such examples, since their thinking is visual - effective and visual-figurative, and the conscious solution of the above example requires the use of the abstract mathematical property of subtracting the sum from a number.

Thus, in order for a child to be able to master the school curriculum in mathematics in the future, he must demonstrate his intellectual and personal qualities from the first days. Now it is not enough for him to reproduce this or that educational material from memory, he must be able to analyze, compare, draw generalizing conclusions, express them in speech, he must see certain patterns, offer and justify his options for solving problems, listen and evaluate the answers of other children etc. Therefore, already in the first two or three months of schooling, not those children who memorized more information, but those who have formed the desire and habit to think, the desire to learn something new, the ability to communicate with peers and adults, etc.

So, the main tasks of the mathematical development of preschoolers are:

1. Formation of learning motivation, focused on the satisfaction of cognitive processes, the joy of creativity.

2. Development of mental operations.

3. Formation of the ability to understand the rules of the game and follow them.

4. Development of variative thinking, fantasy, imagination, creative abilities.

5. The development of speech, the ability to argue one's statements, to build the simplest conclusions.

6. Increased attention span and memory.

7. Formation of arbitrariness of behavior, the ability to purposefully control volitional efforts, establish proper relationships with peers and adults.

8. Formation of general educational skills and abilities (the ability to think over and plan one’s actions, make decisions in accordance with given rules, check the results of one’s actions, etc.) [2, p.3]

Organizing classes in mathematics, the educator must think over its content and methodology so that the assimilation of the material is carried out at a high level of emotional and cognitive attitude towards it.

For this it is necessary to observe some principles:

- Systematic and consistent. It assumes such a logical order of studying the material, in which knowledge is based on previously acquired knowledge. This principle is especially important in the study of mathematics, where each new knowledge follows from the old, known. The teacher distributes the program material in such a way as to ensure its consistent complication from lesson to lesson, the connection of subsequent material with the previous one. It is this study of the material that provides solid and deep knowledge.

- Novelty item , it is of interest to children.

- Gradual formation of mental actions. The educator creates conditions first for the formation of practical, and then logical operations. This can be seen in the example of orientation in space. In the first classes (preparatory group for school), children are taught to practically navigate in a certain space. Children must determine where the sound comes from (the game "Guess where it rings"), or, according to the teacher's instructions, find their place relative to other objects (exercise "Stand in place"). As a result, children develop orienting skills, an understanding of the spatial placement of objects - to the right, to the left, in front, behind, between, etc. This is much easier than a verbal description of their location and the relative placement of objects. Orientation in space is closely related to the ability to distinguish and evaluate distances. Therefore, in the next lesson, children train in assessing the distance from the child himself to any object (object) or the distance between objects; understanding of the perspective: far - close, further - closer, in the foreground - the background of the picture, etc., plot pictures, cards, illustrations are offered for consideration. At the next stage, tasks related to orientation on the table area, sheet of paper, screen, i.e. in two-dimensional space, are solved. In the classroom, exercises are used, for example, visual and auditory dictation. A little later, you can conduct verbal didactic games with children: “What has changed?”, “Say the opposite”, “Where will you go, what will you find?”.

- Consolidation of knowledge. It should be carried out in other classes and in various activities of children (play, labor, construction).

- Visibility. This is explained, first of all, by the fact that the child's thinking has a predominantly visual-figurative character. The most effective is learning, which begins with examining objects, observing phenomena, processes, and actions with surrounding objects. In order for the knowledge acquired by children to be a reflection of reality, its real essence, and not verbal formulations that are stored in memory and have no cognitive meaning, it is necessary that they be based on sensations.

- Personalized training . The educator must remember that there are no uniform conditions for success in learning for all children. It is very important to reveal the inclinations of each child, to reveal his strengths and capabilities, to let him feel the joy of success in mental labor.

When working with preschoolers, it is also necessary to take into account their emotionality, slight excitability, and rapid fatigue, and in accordance with this, change methodological techniques and didactic aids. [2, p.50]

Mathematics with preschoolers, does not involve direct learning, the main lessons should take place during the game. After all, play activity is the leading activity for preschoolers. During the game, children do not notice that learning is taking place.

Also during the game, the child learns to understand some complex mathematical concepts, form an idea of ​​the ratio of quantity and number, develop the ability to navigate in directions, draw conclusions.

Games make extensive use of a variety of objects and visual aids to make learning more fun, entertaining, and accessible.

Only in the practical activity of comparing different concrete quantities - discontinuous and continuous, by comparing elements of one quantity with elements of another - does the child learn their equality and inequality. For example, comparing a row of red circles with a row of blue ones and comparing the elements of one set with the elements of another, the child comes to the conclusion that there are more red circles and fewer blue ones. It is the operation with sets that is the basis that children turn to not only in kindergarten, but also throughout the subsequent years of schooling. [1, p.29]

In order to develop the thought of children, it is necessary to teach them to apply the method of induction and deduction, to lead them to an understanding of the unity of the general and the singular, the abstract and the concrete.

The knowledge, skills and abilities acquired by children in mathematics classes must be consolidated in everyday life - at home, on a walk, in games, in other classes. Children must understand that the knowledge they acquire is really necessary for them. This will contribute to the development of children's interest in the further expansion of mathematical knowledge.

In drawing, modeling, designing, children consolidate their knowledge of geometric shapes, the shape and size of objects, their spatial distribution, and quantity.

For subject and plot drawings, for ornament and appliqué, knowledge about the form, size, quantitative and spatial relationships between parts of the object or between the objects themselves is required everywhere, therefore geometric representations and measuring skills are developed and consolidated in all types of visual activity.

A variety of spatial, quantitative and temporal representations can be fixed in various role-playing games. For example, children play "to the store". They count the items they will sell, put numbers (the cost of goods) on them, then receive money from buyers, perform arithmetic operations, “write down” their calculations, etc.

Reflecting the activities of adults in their games, children are convinced mathematical knowledge is widely used, how important it is to be able to accurately count, measure, determine the direction, etc.

Quantitative, spatial, temporal relationships permeate the entire life of a person. Therefore, the knowledge acquired by children about these relationships, conditionally singled out in the classroom as a subject of education, should be reasonably used in all the activities of children, as well as to form the conviction that mathematical knowledge is important in the life of every person. This enhances the interest of children in mathematics, in its further assimilation at school.

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