Maths activities for kindergarten
Kindergarten Math Games That Make Learning Fun from the Start
Looking for ways to make math fun for young learners? Check out these kindergarten math games! They teach all the basic math skills kindergartners need to master and are sure to engage every kid in the learning process.
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1. Conquer cardinality with penguin dominoes
Kindergarten math students work to master cardinality, understanding that written numerals correspond to the number of items pictured. These free printable penguin dominoes make the concept fun to practice.
Learn more: Playdough to Plato
2. Put together puzzles to gain number sense
Kindergarten math students learn to understand that numbers can be represented in a variety of ways. These free printable puzzles help them practice those skills.
Learn more: Tickled Pink in Primary
3. Play teen-number bingo
This free printable game helps little ones master their numbers from 11 to 20, both as numerals and represented on ten-frames.
Learn more: The Measured Mom
4. Stack cups and count to 100
Kids love stacking things, so they’ll get a kick out of kindergarten math games that make use of stackable cups. This one has them doing it with 100 cups while they count! Turn it into a competition by putting them in teams and timing them to see who can finish the task the fastest.
Learn more: Kindergarten Smorgasboard/100 Cups
5. Visit the skip-counting store
How fun is this? Grab some toys and label them with price tags in increments of 10 cents. Give kids a handful of plastic dimes, and have them count out the amount needed for each “purchase.”
Learn more: Creative Family Fun/Skip Counting Store
6. Have a rubber duck 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! Kindergarten math games like this one are terrific for practicing counting on, basic addition, and making 10.
Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime
7. Practice counting on with cards and dice
Remove the face cards from a deck of playing cards and grab a pair of dice. The first player turns over a card and then rolls the dice. The number on the dice indicates how far they “count on” from the card. (For example, a player turns over a three and rolls a four. They say, “Three: four, five, six, seven.”) If the player gets it right, they keep the card, and the other player(s) get a turn.
Learn more: Creative Family Fun/Counting On
8. Skip-count with craft sticks
There are endless ways to use craft sticks in the classroom. For this game, number a series of colorful sticks by fives, as shown. Kids can practice by putting them in order first. Then, have a student draw a stick and count on by fives from that number to 100—if they draw 75, they then count 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100. If they get it right, they keep the stick, and the next player takes a turn.
Learn more: Simply Kinder
9. Match teen numbers
Once they’ve mastered the numbers 1 to 10, it’s time to understand how those numerals add up to make bigger numbers. These free printable cards show numerals and matching bundles of sticks that deconstruct each teen number into tens and ones.
Learn more: The Kindergarten Connection
10. Compare numbers with dominoes
Kindergartners learn to compare numbers to determine which is larger and which smaller. Stacking math cubes based on the numbers on dominoes is a fun, hands-on way to compare the two numbers side by side, making it easier to see the difference.
Learn more: My Fabulous Class
11. Face off and compare numbers
You’ll need some small toys for this game, as well as polyhedral dice. Kids roll and place the number of items on their side. Then, they compare the two to see which is bigger.
Learn more: Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
12. Make 10 with two-sided chips
You’ll need counting chips that are a different color on each side for this activity. Kids shake up 10 chips in a cup and pour them out on the table. Then they see how many they have of each color and write that number bond to make 10.
Learn more: First Grade Fairytales
13. Throw snowballs to make 10
Make “snowballs” from paper (or any way you like), then place them in a bucket at one end of the room. Start kids out by having them toss snowballs into another bucket until they reach 10 (or any target number). Then, up the challenge by placing some snowballs in each bucket and have kids figure out how many more they need to toss in to make 10.
Learn more: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls—Snowball Math Games
14. Use Uno cards to play addition war
In the card game War, players each flip an Uno card, and the one whose card is greatest takes them both. In this twist on one of our favorite kindergarten games, players each flip two cards. They then use counting blocks to represent the numbers and count on or add to find the sum. The largest sum wins the hand, and play continues.
Learn more: Planning Playtime—Addition Game
15. Roll and add for fluency within 5
Kindergarten math students work to become fluent in adding and subtracting within 5. This free printable board game makes it fun!
Learn more: Liz’s Early Learning Spot
16. Get four in a row and learn place value
This customizable game helps teach the early place-value concept of tens plus ones. Get it for free at the link.
Learn more: Two Boys and a Dad
17. Bowl and subtract within 10
Set up a toy bowling pin set (or make one from plastic bottles or toilet-paper tubes). Kids bowl and see how many pins they knock down, subtracting that number from 10. Then they repeat, this time subtracting from the previous answer. First to get to zero wins!
Learn more: Planning Playtime—Subtraction Worksheets
18. Get off my boat!
So simple, so engaging, so fun! Use tape to outline a boat shape on the floor (or try this outside with sidewalk chalk). Let some kids board the “boat,” then make some get off. Use those numbers to write a subtraction number sentence and solve the equation!
Learn more: Kindergarten Smorgasboard—Get Off My Boat!
19. Drive and 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 then 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. Build a weigh station
Use a hanger and plastic cups to build a super-simple weigh station. Kids will love dropping items into the cups to see which weighs more or less. Turn it into a game by having them try to guess which object weighs more first or how many of one item equals another.
21. Battle it out in ribbon war
Looking for kindergarten math games that teach non-standard measurement? This idea is fun and easy. Cut colorful ribbons into a variety of lengths and place them in a bag. Each student pulls a ribbon from the bag. Then, put students in pairs and have them compare their ribbons to identify the longer one. The student with the longer ribbon keeps both, and the game continues.
22. Hold a shape scavenger hunt
Kindergarten 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
23.
Hop along a shapes mazeUse sidewalk chalk to lay out a shape maze on the playground or driveway. Choose a shape and hop from one to the next, or call out a different shape for every jump!
Learn more: Creative Family Fun—Shape Maze
24. Make a match to learn shapes
Grab these free printable memory cards at the link. Then play and learn the basic shapes.
Learn more: Life Over C’s
25. Guess the mystery shapes
Work on geometry terms like “sides” and “vertices” when you sort shapes using these attributes. Start by placing 3D shapes into paper bags and asking students questions like “The shape in this bag has 4 sides. What could it be?”
Learn more: Susan Jones Teaching
Love these kindergarten math games? You’ll also enjoy these 50 Kindergarten Math Word Problems of the Day!
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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!
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| Mathematics for children
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lessons, presentations, class notes, planning, electives, knowledge assessment
Publish and download methodological developments for a preschool kindergarten teacher in mathematics in preschool education. Publication of interesting and necessary materials for a teacher on teaching children mathematics in a preschool educational institution with a free certificate of publication in the media.
The section of mathematics in preschool education in kindergarten contains:
- NOD in the senior group
- Development of logical thinking of preschool children
- Kindergarten Mathematics Presentations
- Synopsis of the open GCD in the middle group according to FEMP
- Summaries of classes in mathematics in kindergarten
- Mathematical leisure
- Lesson in mathematics in the 2nd junior group
- Abstract of a lesson for children with disabilities in mathematics
- Synopsis of GCD for FEMP
- Journey to the Land of Mathematics
- Abstract of the sensory class
- Synopsis of an integrated lesson in mathematics
- Lesson on FEMP in the 2nd junior group
- Consultation for the educator
- Abstract of the lesson on the formation of FEMP
- Summary of the final lesson on the formation of elementary mathematical representations
- Construct for the formation of mathematical representations
- Graphic dictations in the formation of visual-motor coordination
- Interactive Math Game
- Mathematical game library
- Summary of GCD in mathematics in the middle group using innovative technologies
- Methodical development of a lesson on the development of mathematical and sensory abilities in children
- Technological map of GCD for FEMP in the senior group
- Synopsis of OOD on the development of quantitative representations in children
- The development of mathematical abilities in children through play activities in the context of the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standard DO
The development of speech, logic and mathematics can be carried out in a playful way and perceived by the baby as a fun pastime.
Mathematics in kindergarten begins in the second junior group, where they begin to carry out special work on the formation of elementary mathematical representations.
The development of mathematics by preschoolers plays an important role not only in preparing for school life, but also for the formation of logical thinking skills, the development of intelligence and understanding. Mathematics for preschoolers is usually included in the traditional developmental curriculum in kindergarten.
Here you will find lessons, notes, tests, presentations, plans, activities and other useful materials for the work of the teacher and the education of the student.
"Animal House"
Municipal budgetary educational institution MBOU "Secondary School No. 41" Abstract organized educational activities on the development of mathematical representations for the middle group of kindergarten on the theme "Animal house". (Lexical topic . ..
7 0 11/11/2022
"Visiting a professor of mathematics"
Summary of the formation of elementary mathematical representations. In preschool senior group. Purpose: fixing the account within 6. Tasks: Educational: fix the score within 6. Be able to recognize geometric shapes. To consolidate the ability to navigate in ...
6 0 11/11/2022
Abstract of a lesson in mathematics in the senior group "Journey to a fairy tale"
In today's modern society, one of the requirements for preschool education is that children receive mathematical knowledge and elementary ideas in kindergarten. preschoolers in the course of their development receive the first elementary ideas in children ...
6 0 11/11/2022
VEGETABLES
Purpose: - to learn to guess a mathematical riddle, to lay out a solution using numbers and signs; introduce the number 7 teach ordinal counting, correctly answer the questions: how much? in which place? teach how to lay straight out of counting sticks . ..
5 0 11/11/2022
Didactic manual "Digital table"
Didactic Mathematical Manual "Digital Table" The manual presents didactic games that develop elementary mathematical concepts. Games can be used in organizational lessons and in independent activities of children, from Sun ...
17 0 11/10/2022
Quest - game "We count to five"
Quest - game "We count to five" for children of the middle group Purpose: To reveal the level of mastering the material on the formation of elementary mathematical representations by children of the middle group. Educational tasks: • Learn numbers up to five; • Fasten ...
9 0 11/10/2022
Summary of the lesson "Connoisseurs of mathematics"
Purpose of the lesson: to determine the level of knowledge, skills and abilities in the mathematical development of preschoolers. Tasks: Tutorials: - improve the skills of quantitative counting within 10 and knowledge of numbers; - learn to highlight conditions, questions, solutions, about ...
14 0 11/10/2022
Abstract of the integrated lesson on teaching literacy and FEMP "Journey with letters and numbers"
The purpose of the lesson: to consolidate knowledge, skills and abilities in the section "Literacy" and "FEMP", to create a positive mood during the lesson. Tasks. Tutorials: • consolidate the concept of a word, syllable, letter, sound, sentence; • to consolidate the ability to divide words ...
27 0 11/08/2022
"Our fish friends"
Abstract of a lesson for children of primary preschool age using Z. Gyenes blocks Educational tasks: Tutorials: - to consolidate the skills and abilities of operating Gyenesh blocks according to different properties; - continue to develop classification skills. ...
16 0 07.11.2022
Synopsis of an open lesson on FEMP in the middle group "Chest for Aibolit"
the formation of elementary mathematical concepts, communication skills, expand children's active vocabulary. Tasks: Educational: 1. To consolidate the ability to count within 5, to introduce the ordinal value of a number, to learn how to correctly answer ...
33 0 07.11.2022
Lesson on FEMP in the senior group of preschool educational institutions. Subject: Volume measurement
to form the idea that it is possible to compare the volume of a liquid only when measurements are carried out with one measure; develop practical skills for measuring volume using a conditional measure; continue to learn to select words that are opposite in meaning ...
16 0 07. 11.2022
DEVELOPMENT OF LOGICAL THINKING IN CHILDREN OF OLDER PRESCHOOL AGE THROUGH DIDACTIC GAMES
Thus, the laptop attracts the attention of children with its design, the content of didactic games that contribute to the development of logical thinking in older preschool children. It can be used by the educator in co-educational during re ...
8 0 07.11.2022
: "Ordinal counting, orientation in space"
Topic: "Ordinal counting, orientation in space" Tasks: 1. Fix the ordinal count of items within the first ten. 2. Learn to navigate in space. 3. Form views: • about the relationship of the whole and the part when dividing ...
14 0 07.11.2022
Synopsis of GCD. FEMP "Big, smaller, small"
Learn to distinguish objects by size: large - small; focus on the size of objects, develop the ability to analyze, compare, carry out consistent actions; develop an interest in learning.
14 0 03.11.2022
Synopsis of GCD on cognitive development (FEMP) in the second junior group
Objectives: To learn to answer the question "how much?" with the words one, many, none. Tasks. Educational tasks - continue to teach children to conduct a dialogue with the teacher: listen and understand the question asked and answer it clearly; - fix and generalize the values ...
19 0 03.11.2022
Methodology "Recognition of geometric shapes"
Purpose: to find out the possibilities of recognizing geometric shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle). Circles, squares, triangles, rectangles of different sizes and colors are laid out in front of the child. It is proposed to find a pair for figures of different shapes. ...
23 0 03. 11.2022
Diagnostic technique
Purpose: to explore the possibility of carrying out the operation of comparing objects of different lengths, widths, heights. The teacher invites the child to play the game "What is it for?" according to the condition of the game, children must arrange the objects in descending order, name the size of the objects: ...
21 0 03.11.2022
Diagnostic technique "Dogs-bones".
This diagnostic technique allows you to identify the child's ability to use a quantitative account and count objects in accordance with the sample. In the course of this technique, ask the children to count as many carrots as possible so that everything is enough ...
12 0 03.11.2022
Synopsis of GCD on FEMP "The cat's house caught fire" senior age
Abstract for educators of GCD on FEMP for older children.