Kindergarten math lessons
7 Kindergarten Math Activities To Make Learning Fun
Young children are often eager to learn new skills and concepts. That’s why introducing kindergarten math activities can be so effective.
One thing to always remember, though, is to make learning at home fun and engaging because children learn best through play. And, luckily for you, our experts at HOMER know a thing or two about that!
This article will give you a detailed guideline to help your child get a solid mathematical foundation. These easy at-home activities are fun, engaging, and offer lots of learning opportunities.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
Kindergarten Math Concepts
Before we dive in, it’s important to understand which concepts your young learner will be tackling in kindergarten. That way, it’s easier to know which activities and math skills to focus on at home.
The following are the key math principles your child may know by the end of their kindergarten year:
- Counting and cardinality
- Recognizing numbers beyond 10
- Adding and subtracting single-digit numbers
- Recognizing shapes
- Classifying objects by size
With the principles above in mind, we’ve compiled a list of activities that will help your child develop these essential skills.
7 Fun Kindergarten Math Activities
1) Shape Hunt
What You’ll Need:
- Notebook
- Crayons
What To Do:
Start by selecting any two objects around your house that look different but have the same shape. Then, give your child clues about one of the objects. For example, you might say, “It has a round shape.”
Your child will need to act as a detective and solve this shape mystery! When they are confident that they know what this object is, encourage them to take their detective notebook and draw the item.
Repeat this process for the second object.
Once your little detective has found and drawn the two objects, you can evaluate them and discuss other items with the same shape. So, for something that’s round, this can be plates, pizza, door handles, and so on.
Once you’re confident they understand the properties of the shape, you can play the game again with another shape (triangle, square, etc.).
You don’t have to limit yourselves to your indoor space.
You can also head outside and search for many interesting shapes in your garden, local park, or neighborhood if you’d like.
Find out more about this interesting game from our blog.
2) Count The Beans
What You’ll Need:
- Spoon
- Dried kidney beans
What To Do:
For this fun activity, you will need to take a spoon and hold it outstretched. Your child will then proceed to put one dried kidney bean at a time onto the spoon.
When the first one falls off, you then count how many beans you managed to get on the spoon.
You can play this game with a larger spoon as well. For this, the numbers will get higher, so your child will need to be familiar with higher numbers before they’re ready for this one.
To help, a simple 10 frame should do the trick (a 10 frame is basically a rectangle with 10 equal spaces (five on top and five on the bottom).
If, when counting the beans, you end up with more than 10, you can put each set of 10 in a small paper cup, allocate the cups to each frame, and then add everything for the final tally.
This activity helps kindergarteners continue practicing their counting and gain an understanding of number sense.
3) Building Sets With Blocks
What You’ll Need:
- Building blocks
What To Do:
This activity requires you to ask your young learner to build a color tower with a specific number of blocks. For example, “Build a blue tower with 10 blocks, a red tower with eight blocks, and a yellow tower with eleven blocks.”
All this information will need to be remembered by your child, so this can be a great way to help build memory. Children will also continue practicing colors and counting skills with this activity.
4) Number Guessing
What You’ll Need:
Magnetic numbers (0 – 9)
What To Do:
For this activity, your child will need to put their hands behind their back. You will then place one of the magnetic numbers in their hands for them to feel. Can they guess the number?
If this is a little challenging at first, it can help to have another set of magnetic numbers that they can see as they feel.
This is a great sensory activity that can help familiarize children with each number’s interesting shape and unique qualities.
5) Shape Hopscotch
What You’ll Need:
- Different colored paper
- Scissors
- Painter’s tape
What To Do:
Hopscotch is one of our favorite games here at HOMER. If you’re looking to play the traditional game, you can check out this link, which includes other fun math-related activities in addition to Hopscotch.
For this article, we decided to switch things up a bit with shape hopscotch. All you need to do is cut out six different (but easily recognizable) shapes and give each shape its own color (for example, red circles, yellow triangles, blue squares, purple stars, etc.).
Once you have your shapes, tape them to the floor with painter’s tape. While taping, ensure that the spacing works for your child (the shapes aren’t too far apart).
You can encourage your child to jump, hop, or wiggle through the shapes.
Here are a few ways they can make it through their shape maze:
- Call out colors or shapes for your child to race and find
- Have them hop from one side to the other side by only touching one shape or color
- Give them directions as they go, and ask what they’ve landed on. For example, “Jump three shapes to the left, one shape up, and two shapes right. What color and shape are you on?”
This is an excellent and fun way for kids to continue working on their gross motor skills while incorporating shape and color recognition. Children will also work on the important skill of following directions.
6) Make A Number Line
What You’ll Need:
- Chalk
- Paved area outside
- Deck of cards
What To Do:
On your paved area outside, draw a large number line with chalk. You can write numbers up to 10, 20, or even 30 as your child becomes familiar with those numbers.
Next, take five red playing cards (numbers 1 – 5) and five black playing cards (numbers 1 – 5).
Then, you each get a token which you’ll place in the middle of the number line. Mix the cards and put them face down.
Next, take turns picking cards. A red card means you go up the number line based on the card’s value (for example, if you pull a red five of hearts, you move up five spaces). A black card, on the other hand, means you go down on the number line (red four of clubs = down four spaces).
If you end up below the number one or above the top number on the line, you’ll stay put until all players have had their turn.
After each player has picked four cards, whoever is highest on the number line wins!
7) Snowball Battle
What You’ll Need:
- Paper
- 3 small buckets
What To Do:
Crumble your paper to make “snowballs.” Then, place your buckets at the end of the room. Challenge your child to toss the snowballs into any of the buckets until they reach a target number (e.g., 10).
If you have multiple kids, this can turn into some friendly competition with a timer.
How many can you land in five minutes?
You can also vary the game a bit for older kids by having them toss all 10 snowballs into the three buckets and then write down how they got to 10 (for example, with 3 balls in one bucket, 4 balls in the next, and 3 balls in the last). How many ways can it be done?
Gross motor and counting skills come into play when engaging in this activity.
Tips For Helping Kindergarteners With Math
The above activities should help your child practice and understand their math skills. Additionally, here are a few key points to keep in mind.
Incorporate Math Into Everyday Life
Math is all around us! It is in the shapes of objects and buildings, the measurements we take when baking, and the sorting of patterns. This makes it easy to incorporate math into everyday activities.
Remember that the more practice your child gets, the easier it will be to grasp these foundational concepts.
Make It Enjoyable
When something seems too challenging, kids can quickly become overwhelmed and give up before starting.
Help your child understand how much fun math is by regularly introducing them to math activities in a fun, relaxed way.
We recommend checking out the HOMER blog to see what other entertaining learning games your child can play to build their math skills.
Practice Positive Reinforcement
Positive feedback is one of the key components for your child to continue having a healthy relationship with mathematics. So, when they finally grasp a concept they’ve been struggling with, make a big deal out of it by praising them.
And, if there’s a math skill they haven’t grasped yet, be patient and continue practicing. Soon enough, they’ll get it!
Lay A Solid Foundation With Kindergarten Math Activities
Sometimes children (and adults) view math negatively. You’ll often hear them express how challenging it is. But kindergarten math activities can help build positivity and confidence!
While it can be a challenge, math is still one of the most important subjects children learn and can benefit them for the rest of their lives.
That’s why building math skills early on matters.
Engaging in fun, entertaining, and educational kindergarten math activities can help children achieve just that. And our list above offers great ways to practice.
Check out the HOMER Learn & Grow app for even more math activities and to discover how we can help your young learner thrive!
Author
Kindergarten Math Lessons and Activities for the First 20 Days!
Kindergarten math lesson plans for teaching numbers to 5, 2D shapes, and 3D shapes. This resource provides detailed instruction for your first 4 weeks of math!
Kindergarten Math: The First 20 Days
The first few weeks of school are a hectic time for kindergarten teachers! You are making sure to cover all procedures and routines, all while beginning to teach the kindergarten math curriculum. Many teachers get started with academics right away in order to stay on track for the expected curriculum for the year.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have planned out lessons to save you time and stress? You’re in luck! That is just what I have for you – detailed lesson plans and printable resources such as practice sheets to teach all about shapes and numbers to 5.
The First 10 Days…
The lessons start out with students comparing shapes and objects that are the same and different. We like to tie in literature whenever possible to help teach young children academic skills and guide students to make real-life connections. For the first few lessons, you can use this National Geographic Kids book to identify objects that are the same and objects that are different.
On Day 1, students identify shoes that are the same and different. You can create meaningful learning and complete this activity in your classroom as an interactive lesson with real shoes. Your kindergarten students will think it is the “best day ever” when they get to take off their shoes!
In addition to everyday objects, students learn different ways that they can compare shapes.
They practice sorting by shape, size, and color.
While making comparisons, students are also counting up to 5 and practicing correct number order on math worksheets.
Days 11-20
Now, you are ready to teach shapes. A great way to read while teaching about 2D shapes is The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns.
We start by introducing 2D shapes and identifying sides and corners.
Then, students have a great time with this color, cut, and paste activity to practice identifying shapes with curves and no curves.
These kindergarten sweeties did a shape sort on the SmartBoard.
Students explore 3D shapes using interactive kindergarten math games
The mathematical practices for shapes and numbers to 5 are provided in unit 1 of our Guiding Math curriculum. Click here:
- Kindergarten Math: Unit 1
We have center activities and journal prompts to provide additional practice for unit 1.
You can find this resource here:
- Kindergarten Math Printables Unit 1
Math Assessments
Of course, when you start thinking about instruction, you also start thinking about assessments. ESGI is the best platform for completing assessments. It is so easy! Plus, we’ve added assessments specifically for our Guiding Math Units… making it so simple for you!
Administering these assessments is quick and easy! Do they answer it correctly – simply yes or no.
With assessment trackers ESGI, you can quickly review student progress.
And print off parent letters to send home with students.
ESGI – FREE TRIAL!
There are so many great features with ESGI! If you are not using this amazing assessment tool, give it a try! I know you will love it! You can access a free trial here:
- ESGI | Deanna Jump Promo Code
You are covered with math resources for the beginning of the year.
Do you need ideas for literacy? Check out this post with alphabet activities for kindergarten:
- Fun and Engaging Alphabet Activities for Kindergarten plus a FREE FILE!
open lesson "Kingdom of Mathematics" | Lesson outline (senior group) on the topic:
Methodological description and recommendations.
A child of senior preschool age is active in learning about the environment, shows interest in mathematics. He begins to form ideas about the properties of objects: size, shape, color, composition, quantity; about the actions that can be performed with them: reduce, increase, divide, recalculate, measure. The formation of quantitative and spatial representations is an important condition for the full development of the child at all stages of preschool childhood. They serve as a necessary basis for the further enrichment of knowledge about the world around us, the successful mastering of the system of general and mathematical concepts at school.
The purpose of this methodological development is the development of intellectual and mental abilities of children on the basis of didactic games.
This material will be useful for educators of preschool children. The proposed scheme for building a lesson (in the form of a trip) makes it easy to make adjustments to the current conditions. You can change the tasks and use the outline in different age groups.
Purpose: Development of intellectual and mental abilities of children on the basis of didactic games.
Learning tasks: to improve the skills of quantitative counting, to consolidate the ability to call numbers in direct and reverse order, the next and previous number to the one named or indicated by a number; solve simple arithmetic problems involving addition and subtraction. To consolidate the knowledge of children about the composition of the number of two smaller ones. To consolidate the ability to understand quantitative relationships between numbers, use signs: >,
Developmental tasks: to develop curiosity in children, intellectual abilities, increase self-esteem, develop logical thinking, speech.
Educational tasks: to educate children in a friendly attitude towards a comrade, not to interrupt or prompt during answers.
Speech tasks: To consolidate the ability to answer with a full answer.
Vocabulary work: Activate words in children's speech: left, right, behind, in front, more, less, number neighbors, middle, extreme.
Tasks of integrable areas: to expand the vocabulary with the opposite meaning (antonyms). Improve your ability to accurately paint.
Types of activity: communicative, cognitive-research, play, movement.
Individual work: to fix the countdown with Alyosha S., to improve Anton's ability to correctly use the words “became”, “left”; to consolidate Katya Z.'s ability to correctly name the number's neighbors.
Teacher training.
Literature:
- "Rainbow" program of upbringing, education and development of preschool children in kindergarten / T.N. Dorogova, S.G. Jacobson and others; - M.: Enlightenment, 2003.
- Raduga planning work with children aged 5-6 years: methodological recommendations for educators / T.I. Grizik and others; - M.: Education, 2012.
- “Mathematics in kindergarten. Senior preschool age. Novikova V.P.-M.: Mosaic-Synthesis, 2006.
- Education of cognitive interests in children aged 5-7 years. L.N. Vakhrusheva.-M.: TC Sphere, 2012.
- Mathematics and logic for preschoolers. Solovieva E.V. M.: Prosveshchenie, 2002
- Detsky Sad magazine No. 2, 2012
- Kindergarten magazine No. 6, 2013
- Magazine "Kindergarten" No. 12,2013
- Magazine "Educator of preschool educational institution" No. 10, 2013
Material for GCD
For children: cards with numbers, green and red cards, colored pencils, task cards.
For the teacher: ball, cards with examples.
Methodical methods:
- Game: didactic game "Determine your place", game situation "Traveling on an airplane carpet", game "Neighbor numbers", ball game "Say the opposite", round dance game "Centipede".
- Verbal: riddles, tasks in verse, questions for children.
- Practical: work with number cards, coloring, forward and backward counting.
GCD move
The children, together with the teacher, stand in a circle.
In a wide circle, I see,
All my friends stood up.
We're going to the right now,
Now we're going to the left.
Let's gather in the center of the circle.
And we will all return to the place,
Let's smile, wink
Let's start playing again.
(Children perform movements in accordance with the text)
D / I "Find your place"
(The child determines and names his place in relation to other children)
- Guys, do you like to travel? Today I invite you to go to the Kingdom of Mathematics. Want to?
To find out which vehicle we will be traveling on, we need to solve a riddle: this vehicle is square in shape, flies through the air, happens only in fairy tales.
(flying carpet)
- That's right, it's a flying carpet, so that it takes off we need to say the magic words:
Flying carpet,
Go flying.
Tests are waiting for us,
Difficult tasks.
- So that you do not get bored while we are flying, I will ask you riddles.
A wheel has rolled,
After all, it is similar,
Like a visual nature
Only for a round figure.
Did you guess dear friend?
Well, of course it is…. *(circle)
Look at the figure
And draw in the album
Three corners, three sides,
Connect together.
The result is not a square,
But a beautiful .... * (triangle)
I am a figure, no matter where,
Always very even,
All angles in me are equal
And four sides.
The cube is my beloved brother,
Because I am ... * (square)
- Well done, all the riddles were solved, and we landed in the Kingdom of Mathematics.
Numbers, numbers, signs, geometric shapes live here.
They have prepared interesting tasks for you.
-Guys, the numbers have been preparing for a meeting with you for so long that they have confused their places in the number row. Help them guys find their place.
(Children lay out cards with numbers from 1 to 10)
- Well done! And now let's play the game "Numbers-neighbors".
- I will call you a number, and you will call the neighbors of this number.
-Good! And you have completed this task. The people of the Kingdom want to know if you can count to 10 and back.
(Direct and backward counting)
- Guys, not only numbers, but also signs got mixed up from excitement. You and I need to check whether the signs are in place> and
Let's get started: (showing the cards to the children)
9> 8 4> 3 7> 8
5 7 5
- Well done! You also completed this task. Let's play.
Ball game "Say the opposite."
(The teacher throws the ball to the child and names one of the mathematical concepts, and the child returns the ball and names the concepts opposite to the one named).
Long - short;
Large - small;
Wide - narrow;
High-low;
Fat - thin;
Far - close;
Top - bottom;
Left - right;
forward - backward;
One - many;
Outside - inside;
Light-heavy;
- Well done! Take your seats.
- Guys, the inhabitants of the Kingdom wanted to know if you can solve problems.
Be careful, you are waiting for difficult puzzles.
Here are the mushrooms on the lawn
They are standing in yellow hats:
Two mushrooms, three mushrooms,
How many will be together? (5)
- Guys, what is the action in this problem, addition or subtraction?
Seven merry little pigs
Standing in a row at the trough
Two went to bed to go to bed -
How many pigs are at the trough? (7)
- Guys, what sign lives in this problem "+" or "-
Grandson Shura for lunch
Grandfather gave seven sweets yesterday,
Grandson ate one candy,
How many pieces are left? (6)
Our cat has five kittens
Sitting side by side in a trap,
And the neighbor's cat has three,
Help me count,
How much is three and five? (8)
- Well done! And now here is a problem
There were four apples on the table, one was cut in half.
How many apples are left on the table (4)
- You know how to solve problems, but can you decompose a number into two smaller numbers?
- Let's check!
(I show the children cards with numbers, they sort them into smaller numbers).
Round dance game "Centipede" (physical education minute)
Centipede is walking
(Children walk in a circle, holding hands on the shoulders of a neighbor.)
On a flat path,
She is learning to count:
4.5.
Suddenly she stumbled
And turned over,
(They turn around.)
I forgot what I counted,
And I started over.
(The game is repeated.)
(The count can be continued up to 10.)
A butterfly descended from the sky,
It swirled with us.
(Whirling.)
It's easy to count to five:
1,2,3,4,5.
Suddenly a bee flew in,
Called everyone to the round dance
And the countdown started:
5,4,3,2,1 (10,9,8,7…_)
- Well done! And now the last task.
In front of you are cards that depict ducklings, hares and caterpillars. You need to color the second bunny blue, color the middle duck yellow. Color the rightmost caterpillar green.
- Guys, our journey is over. We completed all the tasks, helped the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Mathematics. And now I invite you to the flying carpet to fly to our kindergarten. Sit back, let's say the magic words:
Flying carpet,
Take flight.
Tests are waiting for us,
Difficult tasks.
- Today we made an exciting journey to the Kingdom of Mathematics. Did you enjoy the trip?
- What was the most interesting task?
- The most difficult?
- The inhabitants of the Mathematical Kingdom gave you a gift, look what it is? (Games "Tangram", "Leaf", "Vietnamese game").
Children are watching, playing games.
Mathematics in kindergarten: pros and cons
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Developing classes in the system of preschool education are important in the formation of the foundations of mathematics.
In the classroom, children easily perceive information from the teacher, as it is carried out in a playful way, taking into account the characteristics of age. Mathematics in kindergarten is not aimed at studying the exact sciences with all its laws and rules, it only helps to form logical thinking in preschool children, knowledge of the information that forms the world order.
It is important to convey this knowledge to the child in a correct and accessible way in order to show his interest in mathematics, which he will take with him to school lessons. Sometimes wrong intonation, not tactfully selected sentences in speech, forever extinguish the interest of the younger generation in the knowledge of the exact sciences. As in any other system of education, mathematics in kindergarten has its advantages and disadvantages. Let's first analyze the shortcomings of this educational system:
• The number of children present at the lesson. Everyone knows that groups in kindergartens usually have up to 30 or more children, so the teacher cannot devote proper time to each child when explaining the material in mathematics classes.
This makes perception difficult, because one child perceives information at his own speed, may not understand something, while another child grasps knowledge on the fly, tends to understand the lesson right away;
• Limited class time. It is also the reason for the complexity of the individual approach to each child. Educators cannot check how much the children understood, perceived the material or completed the task to the end;
• Some children fall behind due to illness and missing kindergarten.
Benefits include:
• Mathematics classes in kindergarten are conducted with a group of children, as it is much more interesting to learn, develop, learn in a company;
• Take such classes in mathematics in the form of play activities. A professional teacher should know the characteristics of the child's psyche at preschool age, present information in such a way that it is interesting;
• Interesting visual material in the form of manuals, logical problems with bright pictures.
