Math for preschool kids
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.
Build a cityStack 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.
Build a beetleThis 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.
Line up dominoesDominoes 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.
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Preschool Math Activities - Stay at Home Educator
Developing mathematics skills begin long before children enter formal schooling. This is why choosing out which preschool math activities to include in your lesson plans are all the more important.
In fact, preschool and toddler aged children are constantly playing with math. They naturally sort and organize. They build and design. These are mathematical skills children have a natural interest in and their beginning development comes through the very natural act of playing.
It is all good and well to say that math skills develop naturally, but young children also benefit from purposeful preschool math activities.
The 5 Disciplines of Preschool Math Activities Instruction
Teaching math to preschoolers isn’t about doing endless preschool math worksheets. Learning activities should be hands-on and engaging, while targeting important number skills.
But preschool mathematics is more than just teaching counting and number identification. There are five disciplines in mathematics, which are taught in the following units:
Number Sense
Graphing
Measurement
Patterning
Shapes
Sorting
Wondering What to Teach in Preschool Math?
Not sure what math skills you should include in your preschool math lesson plans? Or what kind of preschool math activities you should include? Grab a free checklist below.
How to Teach Math to Preschoolers
Young children love to play with mathematics, and through play is where some of the strongest mathematical connections will be made.
These connections will provide them with the right foundation to learn formal math with ease.
Unfortunately, many elementary-aged children claim they hate math!
So this begs us to ask a question of ourselves as parents and teachers: What has happened to their enjoyment and confidence? Where has the joy gone? The joy they used to experience when building math skills?
And then we ask…what math activities for preschoolers are the most important? Am I planning the right preschool math activities so my students experience joy and excitement when learning math?
The early years allow children to explore mathematics in a natural way. Through hands-on activities and play! Through preschool math games, too!
Think of the toddler who lines up his tractors in a neat row, or sorts her snack crackers by color. Or the preschooler who turns a puzzle piece to find the right fit or uses blocks to build a tower in increments of two. These are examples of preschool math activities that naturally occur in early childhood.
They are playful but purposeful. And meaningful, too.
And it is through purposeful and active lessons that preschoolers can be taught a strong foundation in all five disciplines in math.
The Five Disciplines of Math Explained
All mathematics skills are summed up into five disciplines or domains. They are not just for high school students, or middle school, or just for elementary students. The five disciplines of math also apply to preschoolers.
It may sound intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. The instruction in all five disciplines is absolutely necessary to give preschoolers the best beginning possible in mathematics. They are:
- Number Sense
- Algebra
- Geometry
- Measurement
- Data Analysis
You might be thinking, “Seriously, I supposed to teach algebra to preschoolers?!”
Well, yes, but if you stop to think about it, teaching all five disciplines is easier than you think. And it is easy to make it developmentally appropriate for preschoolers, too! And, it is completely necessary for a complete and well-rounded preschool education.
What the Five Disciplines of Math Look Like in Preschool
Think about it like this: the following are some basic strands within each discipline.
- counting, number identification, addition and subtraction (number sense)
- patterns, comparing and sorting (algebra)
- shape identification, shape differentiation (geometry)
- comparing sizes, lengths and weights (measurement)
- graphing, simple estimation (data analysis)
To learn more about each domain, and to see way preschool math activities that fit within each, click the following links:
Number Sense Activities for preschoolers
Algebra Activities for preschoolers
Geometry Activities for preschoolers
Measurement Activities for preschoolers
Data Analysis Activities for preschoolers
Did You Grab your FREE Preschool Math Skills Checklist?
Take the guesswork out of how to teach math with this free preschool math skills checklist.
Just click the image and a pdf will be sent to your email.
Printable Math Centers for the Entire Year
Having printable number cards, play dough mats, and other number activities for the entire year makes planning your preschool math centers even easier! Practice number matching and identification along with fine motor skills.
Free Printable Math Activities for Preschoolers
Math for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old
Here you can find a lot of useful materials on the topic "Math for children for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old", which you can print on a printer and engage with children as at home, and in preschool and school institutions. With the help of our article 11 best activities for learning numbers from one to ten, you can teach numbers and counting to a child of any age. Learning math in a playful way is a very interesting activity even for those children who do not show much love for learning. Also, such tasks are great for little fidgets who cannot sit in one place for 5 minutes.
Each game task is designed for a younger child - it is designed in such a way that the child does not get tired, and at the same time receives a useful portion of knowledge and skills. The main thing is not to solve all the tasks at once, only one at a time!
Mathematics for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - choose a section for learning
Mathematics for children is presented in several sections, each of which develops certain skills in teaching a child. For example, counting up to 10 and 20 is intended for children who are learning to count objects, but still do not know numbers well and do not know how to solve mathematical expressions. In the section with tasks in mathematics, more complex tasks are presented, in which examples, tasks, and various tasks for adding, subtracting, dividing the number of objects into equal parts, etc. can be found. In tasks with geometric shapes, children will get acquainted with the shapes and names of geometric shapes, perform simple tasks to consolidate the learned material.
Also, tasks with mathematical signs (greater than, less than, equals sign) are given separately.
In this section, we learn to count to 10 with fun picture activities for preschoolers. Learning to count in a playful way is a very interesting activity even for those children who do not show much love for learning.
Here we learn to count up to 20 by completing interesting game tasks in pictures. The tasks below are suitable for children who have already mastered counting up to 10 and are starting to learn counting up to 20.
Here are interesting and colorful picture math tasks for children who are preparing for school or studying in 1st grade. Assignments can be very useful for teachers in kindergartens and elementary schools to teach children about mathematical expressions more effectively.
Geometric shapes for children - Interesting tasks
Here you can download and print geometric shapes for children in the form of interesting tasks in pictures, the implementation of which will not only benefit the child, but also a lot of fun.
Numbers for children in various designs are presented here - numbers in the form of flowers, three-dimensional, gold, with various textures, ice, puzzle numbers, as well as simple numbers in black and red.
Mathematical signs and symbols - Picture tasks
Learn math signs and symbols with fun picture activities. By completing tasks, the child will learn to distinguish between greater than and less than signs, as well as plus, minus and equal sign.
Other interesting topics with mathematics
Educational games "Math for Toddlers"
The games were developed by the Chudo-Yudo children's portal especially for the youngest children (from 2 years old), who are just starting to learn to count to 10. Such games contribute to faster memorization of numbers, and also allow the child to understand the technology of counting, which is difficult for his age.
Math games for children from 4 to 6 years old
The games are designed to prepare a preschooler for the first mathematical knowledge and the ability to count.
Here you will find interesting colorful games in which the child will need to find and count the specified number of objects or living beings. Children of this age really like to count, especially in a playful way.
Math examples online
A great opportunity for younger students to practice their knowledge of mathematics. After all, in these tasks you need to be able to quickly solve examples, because a certain time is allocated for the passage of each task. When the time runs out, then you are credited with points only for those examples to which the child managed to answer.
All educational materials presented in the section "Mathematics for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old" are very useful for preschoolers to prepare for school, as well as for younger students to practice and test their knowledge.
Learning to count up to 20 - Math tasks in pictures
- Home
- Learning to count to 20
Addition and subtraction tables up to 20 are used to teach a child the skill of finding the sum or difference of two numbers, help to quickly get the result without actually performing arithmetic operations.
They can be used as assistants in calculations for grade 1 students and not only in math lessons to solve examples. You can download and print our tables for free at the bottom of the page.
Published in Mathematics for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - print and study
What is the composition of a number? And how can we help children develop understanding? When a child understands the composition of a number, he understands that numbers are made up of other numbers. They "see numbers inside" other numbers: first, the child sees that all numbers are made up of ones, and then that they can be made up of pairs of large numbers. So, for example, 5 consists of "five ones", or of "1 and 4", or of "2 and 3". In this article, we have prepared for you tables, number houses and simulators for teaching preschoolers and grade 1 students the composition of numbers up to 20, which you can print for free.
Published in Mathematics for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - print and study
Learning to count up to 20 with the help of a simulator to consolidate the composition of the number up to twenty.
The task is suitable for children of elementary grades (6-7 years old). In tasks, the child will have to solve examples for addition and subtraction, writing down the answers in the tables provided. This is a good training for children who are learning math counting. According to the example given, you can independently come up with similar tasks for classes with your children.
Published in Mathematics for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - print and study
In this task, we learn to count up to 20 by connecting even and odd numbers from 1 to 20. These are exercises that will be a good tool when teaching a kid math. In these tasks, the child will have to, connecting even or odd numbers, draw a path for cartoon characters, while repeating not only counting to 20, but also learning the concept of even and odd numbers.
Published in Math for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - print and study
The task for children "Count. Underwater World" is a great opportunity to test not only the knowledge of the child, but also his attention.
Ask the kid what other inhabitants, besides those shown in the picture, he knows, what underwater plants he knows, share your knowledge with him. Mathematical problems will be interesting for children from 3 years old.
Published in Mathematics for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - print and study
Fun Jobs "Learning to count to 20 - For little fidgets" it will be much easier for a child to decide under your strict guidance. Read the task to the child, and if he can already read on his own, check whether he correctly understood the proposed condition of the problem. If the child is very young and still does not know how to count, ask him only to find objects, and at the same time count aloud yourself. Such activities well develop the attention of the child and his memory.
Published in Math for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - print and study
Fun tasks for children "Counting to 20" will be of interest to children aged 5-7 who have consolidated their knowledge of counting up to 10 and are learning to count up to 20.
