Numbers 1 5 activities kindergarten
30 Hands-On Counting Activities for Kids -
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Some kids (and adults too!) have negative feelings about math. It can seem abstract and difficult. But there are lots of fun ways to make it less intimidating. Starting with the very basics, using play and activities there are lots of hands-on counting activities for kids! We’ve done so many activities to teach counting! There are way too many to list them all but here are a few of our themed favorites.
30+ Hands-On Counting Activities
More Counting Activities
Below you’ll find some of the best ideas to include counting skills within other activities like games, crafts, stories and sensory play.
Hands-On Counting Activities and GamesMath Caps: A Math Facts Game from Mosswood Connections
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A full-year of kindergarten math activities: perfect for small groups, partner activities and independent centers.
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20+ Activities each
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click to get the kindergarten math bundleEasy Preschool Watermelon Counting Game from Homeschool Preschool
Spider Web Number Lacing Activity from Artsy Momma
Fine Motor Activity: Turkey Feather Counting from Artsy Momma
Nuts and Bolts More or Less Game from Preschool Powol Packets
Flower Counting Activity from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
Counting Game for One-to-One Correspondence from Buggy and Buddy
Contact Paper Fall Tree Counting Game from Simple Fun for Kids
Felt Leaf Number Line Activity from Something 2 Offer
Foam Cup Construction with Numbers from Simple Fun for Kids
Simple Montessori Counting Activity from My Mundane and Miraculous Life
100 Items to Use to Count to 100 from Edventures with Kids
Learning to Count with Pipe Cleaners from School Time Snippets
Hands-on Preschool Counting with Rings on Fingers from School Time Snippets
Skip Counting Activities from What Do We Do All Day
Gross Motor Counting Activities
Teach Counting with a Stair Jumping Game from Homeschool Preschool
Teach Counting with Simon Says from Homeschool Preschool
Gross Motor Math Game: Counting Action Dice from Buggy and Buddy
Hands-On Crafts for Counting
Recycled K Cup Frog Craft and Counting Activity from Artsy Momma
Spider Counting Craft from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
Pretend Play for Counting
Preschool Math Activity with Bear Counts from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
Personalized Felt Counting Set with Ten Apples Up On Top from Buggy and Buddy
Pretend Play and Number Recognition from My Mundane and Miraculous Life
Counting 1 to 5 with 5 Little Ducks from Red Ted Art
Hands-On Sensory Activities for Counting
Exploring Numbers with Playdough from Simple Fun for Kids
Dinosaur Sensory Bin: Counting and Math from My Mundane and Miraculous Life
Our Favorite Counting Books:
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Once your child’s creativity is sparked with this fun activity, take it a step further with these engaging resources:
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With a little creativity math doesn’t have to be intimidating at all. These hands-on counting activities are sure to be a hit!
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Scroll to topHow to Teach Numbers 1-10 in Kindergarten – KindergartenWorks
Number sense and learning to write and use numbers 0-10 is a pretty big deal the first nine weeks of kindergarten.
Here is a set of materials that helps me teach kindergarteners how to form the numerals and teach them how to count one-to-one all the way to ten.
Because, let's be honest.
Lots of kinders come in counting to ten skills - and then also - lots don't. I have found that it's very common to have incoming students that can only count up to four or five objects correctly.
Here's what I created to use in my classroom and you can use it too.
Teach them with a story
Just like I've learned that teaching procedures with a story is very effective, I've learned that teaching numbers with a story is effective too.
But I didn't really like any books that existed because they didn't teach students literally "this is how you count" and "this is how to make a 4." And that's just what I needed.
So, I created the monster numbers book and also turned it into an audiobook.
My kinders love it and it helps me teach a lot in a short amount of time.
It talks about the process of counting 1:1 all the way up to four.
It capitalizes on the fact that most students can count that many objects but pushes them to see that counting uses a pattern that they can apply to every number after.
As a teacher, you simply use the repeated phrases from the book "When you touch one, you say a number. When you touch another one, you say the next number" when you are working with kids who need help counting and touching objects one-to-one.
After that, it goes over easy-to-remember number formation chants to practice forming the numerals correctly.
So you can have students practice doing this with you as you read - they quickly learn to chant along with you and can even draw numbers in the air with their finger as you read aloud.
Of course, the way to maximize teaching numbers with young students is to do this more than once.
You can print this story and read it as often as you want.
To make it more fun and interactive, let's talk about how to engage the student's whole body in order to learn how to write numbers even faster.
Teach them with a video
A video can take learning how to write numbers and make it more interactive. So, use this free Monster Numbers video for kindergarten to your advantage!
We love throwing it up on a big screen to practice forming numbers with arms, elbows, legs, and heads. So much fun!
It also works great if you break it up into parts to focus on just a couple of numbers!
Enjoy this free how to write numbers video - it's about 10 minutes so it is a mini-lesson in itself, but should help get kinders moving while they're learning.
Now that you've laid a good foundation by reading and re-reading Monster Numbers and showing the video a few times - it's time to give the students practice in small groups.
Teach them in small groups
Have your students create their own little Monster Numbers book and "capture" monsters by completing the pages.
I like using this as a lesson with my guided math groups.
The mini-book starts with the number 5, since that's where most kinders need work on counting 1:1 when they enter kindergarten.
Do a few pages together, using the chants you learned from the book and video, and let students get some pencil and paper practice.
Send the little books home so that parents can see what students are working on.
Use the number handwriting chants any time you can
Now that your students can practically recite the whole video along - it's time to use those easy-to-remember chants any time your students are working on writing numbers, or need help with writing numbers correctly.
Whenever students are attempting to write on their own, or you are writing numbers in front of the whole class (like during calendar time) - use the chants!
Prompt students with a few words and let them finish saying it aloud.
Send home a set of the chants to go home to parents so they can use them at home too!
Hopefully, these will earn some at-home fridge space for a few weeks. {wink}
Teach what is a ten frame
Help your students quickly develop number sense by helping them see numbers in an organized way.
Introduce a ten frame - using a ten frame has been critical for me to teach so many math skills.
But, let me make it easy for you. Your kids have already been exposed to one!
The "monster keeper" from the book is a ten frame.
It's a great visual for kinders and you can print as many monster manipulatives you'd like.
Use the ten frame whole group or with your small groups as needed -they are fantastic for exploring how to count, touching objects 1:1, and getting to know the layout of a ten frame.
Teach them how counters of any kind can be placed into a ten frame to help objects stay organized and make it easier to count.
Down the line in the school year, students will learn that 5 on top and 2 on the bottom is 7 without having to count each object. That's powerful when it comes to teaching your students how to subitize larger numbers.
For now, teach them what a ten frame is and use it often for counting.
Related: How to make ten frame manipulatives
Use some independent activities
You've taught counting 1:1 and how to form numbers as a whole group, in small groups and now you need to give students lots of practice doing this on their own using independent activities.
There are tons of printables, simple games, and center activities out there that can help you accomplish this.
I made a center activity that didn't need an explanation of how to do it. This way I could use it at the beginning of the school year when kinders aren't very independent workers yet.
Since most students come into kindergarten with the general concept of how to do a puzzle - I simply made ten frames into number puzzles to bring it all together.
There are two different kinds of puzzles to allow for differentiation.
The 3-piece number puzzles all have the same shape which means they have to count if they are to get the puzzle correct.
Revisit what worked
If you've been teaching students how to count and how to form numbers:
- whole group
- in small groups
- with independent activities
and using the number chants whenever you can - your students will be well on their way to using numbers - not just learning them - in kindergarten!
Since the monster number ten frames are kinder-friendly, it's easy to use them again when it's time to introduce a new skill.
Once they know numbers to 10, it's time to dig deeper into numbers 0-5.
A special note - making 5 is a huge concept in kindergarten, so don't skip, ignore or gloss over it!
And then you're ready to focus on digging deeper into numbers 5-10.
Since I kind of loathe worksheets, I've made ten frame workmats. They are great for giving students a target number to make in different ways.
Students practice different ways of making numbers 5-10 You can use the workmats along with the recording sheets if you want.
They were fun to make and I love the idea of even using bingo-daubers for representing items in a ten frame. In this case, those daubers will create fantastic monsters.
Get Monster Numbers
If you love the idea of using this printable book and any of the printable resources, you can purchase the Monster Numbers Pack here:
Go to Purchase
You'll get:
- the 35-page printable "Monster Numbers" book
- Audio recording (mp3) of this book read aloud by me
- CD label image
- 3 differentiated sets of number puzzles (Matching numbers to ten frames 1-10)
- Handwriting 0-10 chant poster/parent resource
- 11 page "My Monster Numbers" mini-book
- 5 workmats and 5 matching recording sheets
- Manipulative monster pictures and monster-themed ten frames (Monster-Keepers)
Bonus: Teach them with playdough
I love teaching things in tactile ways.
Playdough is a staple material in my kindergarten classroom.
So, I made sure to create an independent activity that uses playdough to practice forming numbers and counting to ten.
These bonus playdough numeral formation and ten frame work mats still feature the monster keeper and familiar monsters - but transition students into using a plain ten frame to count their playdough monster balls.
You can simply laminate or slide the pages into a plastic sleeve and you're set to go!
Go to Purchase
Let's wrap it up
Teach numbers 1-10 in kindergarten by using: whole group, small group and independent activities.
Be sure to use books, videos, chants and get students moving and manipulating objects or playdough whenever you can to make it hands-on.
You're sure to maximize the time you spend teaching numbers to ten this way.
I hope that the Monster Numbers video and printable resources can help make it easier to quickly implement in your kindergarten classroom.
If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
More Math
- Making 5 Fluency Ideas and Games
- Learning Teen Numbers in Kindergarten
- Teach: How to Draw a Ten Frame
- 2 Activities and 5 Videos to Teach 2D Shapes
NOD figures 1-5, score | Plan-summary of a lesson in mathematics (middle group):
Municipal preschool educational institution
kindergarten No. 36 "Yablonka"
ABSTRACT GCD
"NUMBERS FROM 1 TO 5. COUNT"
for children of younger preschool age
EDUCATIONAL FIELD OF THE CORE EDUCATIONAL PRESCHOOL PROGRAM: "Cognitive Development"
INTEGRATION WITH OTHER EDUCATIONAL AREAS:
“Familiarization with others”, “Drawing”
Developer
T. G. Prutskova, teacher
of the highest qualification category
Surgut, 2017
Summary of NODs for FEMP
Topic: “Figures 1-5 .
Account
for children of primary preschool age
Prutskova T. G.
Tasks:
Improve knowledge of numbers 1-5 and the ability to count the number of objects specified by the number.
Strengthen knowledge about the rectangle, counting skills through tactile-motor sensations.
To expand children's knowledge of the train as a railway transport.
Dictionary: driver, passengers, rectangle, route, station.
Continue to teach children how to draw circles of different sizes with a pencil and color them evenly.
Improve the ability to navigate in space.
Develop mental operations, fine motor skills.
Cultivate curiosity.
Equipment:
Demonstration pictures depicting a train, station, railroad track.
Five numbered rectangles of different colors and one steam locomotive for each child.
counting sticks.
Handout "Hares"
Map: a schematic plan of the group room.
Leaflets with the image of a labyrinth.
Black pencils.
Blank sheets showing a train without wheels.
Activity:
- Today we are going on a fabulous train journey. Have you ever traveled on a real train?
The driver is driving the car, but the train is ...? Do you know who is running the train? The driver is driving the train. Repeat and memorize this word.
A train is a railway vehicle. In order for the train to set off, a special road is needed. Do you know the name of the road on which the train travels? Railway. (Show picture) Long rails. how many railroad tracks? Two rails. But these are sleepers, rails lie on top of them. How many sleepers? Lots of sleepers. Now we are going to build a railway from rails and sleepers.
Didactic exercise with counting sticks “Railroad”
Lay out many sleepers from left to right at a small distance from each other. Lay two rails on top of the sleepers. Attach the sticks-rails tightly to each other. (In the course of the children's work, the teacher asks questions about the name and number of rails and sleepers).
The train consists of wagons and a locomotive. The steam locomotive carries the wagons, because the wagons themselves cannot move without a steam locomotive. (Showing a picture) And what are the wagons for? To carry goods or passengers. Passengers are those who travel in transport.
Didactic game "Fold the train"
- Now you have to make a train from a locomotive and wagons.
Take the locomotive figurine and place the wagons next to it from left to right. The wagons are similar in shape to what geometric figure? To a rectangle. But be careful, each rectangle has a car number. The car with the number 1 should be the first, immediately after the locomotive. Behind the car with the number 1, you need to put the car with the number 2. And what number will you put the car with the number behind the car with the number 3? Which wagon is next? What's the last one? Get to work. Count the wagons. How many are there? Check if all the cars are placed correctly: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Now our train is ready to receive passengers.
Didactic game "Let's take the hares to the forest"
- And the passengers will be hares. They went to the garden for carrots, and now they want to return home to the forest as soon as possible. You must place the hares in the wagons like this: as many hares as indicated on the wagon number can ride in the wagon. How many hares can ride in car number 1? How many hares can ride in car number 2? 3? four? 5? Set up the rabbits. Check if the car number and the number of hares match?
Dynamic pause "Train on route"
- Look at this map. This is our group room. The route is marked on the map. on which the train is to travel. Each train goes exactly along its own path - the route and does not leave it. If each train goes as it wants, it will surely collide with another train. Therefore, trains run exactly on their route. Repeat and memorize the word "route".
What do these little rectangles on the map mean? your tables.
How many? A lot of. What does one big rectangle mean? Teacher's table. Arrows indicate where to move. Try to guess for yourself how our train will go. From the teacher's table around the children's tables. Then let's not waste a minute, we make up the train, lining up one after the other and we go exactly along the route.
- When you are on a bus, the place where the bus stops, takes in new passengers and drops off those who have already arrived, what is the name of this place? The bus stops at a bus stop. To make it easy for passengers to distinguish stops and not confuse them, each stop has its own name. The stop near our garden is called ... Do you know the names of other stops in our city?
On the railway, trains do not stop at stops, but at stations. (Show picture).
Didactic game "Labyrinth"
- Guys, you have a train route drawn on the leaves. Pick up pencils and guide the train exactly along the route. You can only move by rail, avoiding all obstacles.
The path starts from a large station with a clock, and ends at a small forest station.
Finger gymnastics with onomatopoeia "Steam locomotive with a big chimney"
Here is a locomotive with a big chimney.
He will carry us with you.
(Close your hands into fists, leaving round holes inside).
The chimney on the roof looks up
And smokes, as if breathing.
(We put the cam on the cam, and move them up and down without disconnecting).
The locomotive puffed: “puff-puff-puff”.
Old locomotive drawing
- Look at the picture of the locomotive. What is missing from the locomotive? The steam locomotive lacks wheels? The picture shows an old steam locomotive. Modern locomotives are not like that at all. But you have to draw the wheels of an old steam locomotive. Pay attention to whether all the wheels are the same size on an old steam locomotive? No, one wheel is big. And what is the shape of the wheel, what geometric figure does the wheel look like? The wheel is like a circle.
Take black pencils in your hands and draw the wheels of an old locomotive.
FEMP abstract "Numbers 1-5. Repetition" | Plan-summary of a lesson in mathematics (preparatory group):
Municipal Autonomous Preschool Educational Institution
Kindergarten No. 16 Tuymazy
Municipal District Tuymazinsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan
Abstract
development”
Section “Formation of elementary mathematical representations”
Subject: Numbers 1-5. Repetition»
Age group: preparatory to school
Completed:
Educator Salimshina F.F.
Current category – no category
Work experience 7 years
Tuimazy - 2019
Goals:
1) Repeat numbers 1-5: education, writing, composition.
2) Strengthen the skills of quantitative and ordinal counting.
3) Formation of elementary mathematical representations.
Tasks:
Educational:
- consolidate knowledge about the composition of the number 5;
- write examples using the "+" sign;
Developing:
- to create conditions for the development of logical thinking, ingenuity, attention;
Educational:
- cultivate perseverance, the ability to listen.
- to cultivate interest in mathematical studies.
Means of sale:
Demonstration material - toys or pictures depicting Pinocchio, Malvina, Pierrot, Artemon, Karabas-Barabas; "Houses" - for repeating the composition of numbers.
Handout - 5 circles each red and green; numbers 1-5; "wonderful bags" and similar items to them.
Preliminary work: Reading the fairy tale about the number 5 (Author - Iris Revue).
Methods and techniques: Visual methods and demonstration method.
Hod OOD
1. Formation and writing of numbers 1-5. Count up to 5.
1) The game "Day - Night".
Above the board is an image of Pinocchio.
— Who came to visit us today?
— How many guests do we have? Show a card with a number. (1.)
— What fairy tale is he from? Today the heroes of this fairy tale will help us in the game "Day - Night". You know that fabulous miracles, wonderful transformations take place at night. Night!
Children close their eyes, show that they are sleeping.
The teacher adds a picture of Malvina.
- Day! What changed? (Malvina came.)
- How many heroes of the fairy tale are there now? (2.)
- How did you get the number 2? (1 + 1 = 2.)
- Night!
Children "sleep" - Pierrot appears.
- Day! What changed? Show the card. How did you get the number 3? Count the characters in the story in order.
Further work is carried out similarly with the remaining characters of the fairy tale. At the same time, the formation of a new number, the quantitative and ordinal count of objects are repeated.
2) Magic bag game.
The task consolidates counting skills based on tactile and motor sensations. Children work in pairs. Each child has a “magic bag” with homogeneous objects from I to 5 (buttons, pebbles, beads, dice chips, nesting dolls, etc.). Children determine the number of objects by touch and share their observations in pairs:
— I have a typewriter. And you have?
Then they exchange bags and check if the neighbor's account is correct.
II. Physical education "One, two, three, four, five!".
One, two, three, four, five!
We all know how to count,
We also know how to rest -
Put your hands behind your back,
Raise your head higher
And breathe easily, easily.
One, two, three, four, five!
We stomp our feet.
One, two, three, four, five,
We clap our hands.
Pull up on your toes
As many times,
Exactly as many as the number of fingers
You have on your hand.
III. Recording and composition of numbers 1-5.
1) N 1, p. 1.
The task consolidates the ability to correlate the numbers 1-5 with the number of objects.
Look at the pictures. What do they have in common? (These are berries, there are leaves, numbers are written below, etc.)
- What do you think needs to be done in this task? (Cross out extra numbers.)
— Why did you decide that? Explain. (There are 4 rowan berries in the first picture.
Numbers are written under the picture: 1, 2, Z, 4, 5. All numbers, except for the number 4, are crossed out. The number 4 shows that there are 4 rowan berries in the picture.)
- What kind of berries drawn in the second picture? How many? What will you do?
- Cross out the extra numbers in the second and all other pictures.
After 1-2 minutes of independent work, the children justify their decision, for example:
There are two raspberries in the third picture, so I crossed out the numbers 1, 3, 4 and 5, and left the number 2.
At the end, the children compare their work with the finished sample. If they did everything on time and correctly, then they put a “+” sign for themselves, and if not, they don’t put anything. The correctness of the self-test can be checked in pairs.
2) The game "Magic Houses".
The composition of numbers 2-5 is repeated using visual support. Each of the children has red and green mugs on the table. One child works at the board with models of "houses".
- Take 2 colored circles. Who got what? (1 circle - red, 1 - green.)
—Could there be other methods of selection? (No.)
On the board:
- Draw 3 different colored circles. What did you get? Children pronounce two possible selection options:
IV. Physical education with fingers.
Exercises for the development of finger motor skills with imitation of the actions indicated in the chants:
There are five fingers on my hand,
Five graspers, five holders.
To plan and saw,
To take and to give.
They are easy to count!
One, two, three, four, five!
Give each finger a name.
V. Consolidation of ideas about the composition of numbers 2-5.
1) N2, page 1.
— Look at the pictures. Think about why there is a number 2 next to the first ladybug in a circle?
—Why do the next two bugs have the number 3 next to them? How can you make the number 3? (1+2 and 2+1.)
— Consider the ladybugs with the number 4 next to them.
