Preschool math activities to do at home

Preschool Math Games and Activities to Engage Young Learners

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

1. String beads on pipe cleaners

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

Learn more: Laughing Kids Learn

2. Monster Dice Match

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

Learn more: The Measured Mom—Monster Dice

3.

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

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Learn more: Hands On as We Grow

4. Flip Uno cards to make a match

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

Learn more: Primary Playground

5. Tag the number

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

Learn more: This Reading Mama

6.

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

Learn more: Cinta + Co.

7. Race to fill the cup

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

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

8. Hunt for numbers

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

Learn more: Busy Toddler/Number Hunt

9. Bounce a balloon

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

Learn more: Confidence Meets Parenting

10.

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

Learn more: Teach Beside Me

11. Create shapes with sticks

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

Learn more: Team Cartwright

12. Send bears into hibernation caves

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

Learn more: Pocket of Preschool

13. Park numbered cars

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

Learn more: B-Inspired Mama

14.

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

Learn more: Busy Toddler—Domino Line-Up

15. Copy ice tray patterns

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

Learn more: Planning Playtime

16. Rubber Duck Math Race

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

Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime—Rubber Duck Race

17. Feed the LEGO monster

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

Learn more: Toddler Approved

18. Drop blocks into tubes

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

Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime—Tube Counting

19. Compare numbers to music

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

20. Hold a shape scavenger hunt

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

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

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

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Easy Math Activities for Preschoolers to Do at Home or School

These easy math activities for preschoolers are simple to set up but super engaging for the children. These math activities for preschoolers are just right for kids at home or in the classroom.

Related: Activities for Preschoolers at Home

Just to clarify, when I say EASY math, I don’t mean the children won’t be learning. I mean that they’re easy to pull together and they don’t require too many materials.

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You’ll be able to use these math ideas whether you’re a preschool teacher in the classroom or a parent working with kids at home.

Bonus: many of these math ideas can be done with a variety of materials. So if you don’t have each specific item, don’t stress about it. Use what you have on-hand.

Related: 35+ Spring Math Activities For Preschoolers

These math activities are ones using simple items you already have around the house, in your craft stash, or in the classroom.

Mosaic Math Art – Cut and glue paper squares to make your own patterns.

Homemade Geoboard – Make a simple geoboard for the kids to use when exploring shapes.

Simple Preschool Shape Activities – Go on a shape hunt and take (or draw) along the way.

Symmetry Snowflake Craft – Use paper and sticks to explore symmetry.

Apple Math Fun – Stamp with apples and then graph the favorites.

Bar Graphs for Preschoolers – Create simple bar graphs using paper, shower curtains, etc.

Graph with Duplos – Use Duplos (or regular-sized Lego bricks) to create simple graphs.

Simple Outdoor Number Activities – Use chalk, rocks, pine cones, etc. to work on early number and counting skills.

Spring Math Game for Kids – Grab some play dough, dice, and some fake flowers for a fun dice game. Use craft sticks in place of flowers if you need to.

Summer Math for a Preschool Ice Cream Theme – Add scoops of “ice cream” to numbered cones.

Fine Motor Number Activity – Stack small items based on the number.

Pumpkin STEM Challenge – Use candy (it doesn’t have to just be pumpkins!) and play dough to create structures based around a number.

Broken Heart Numbers – Put the hearts together by matching the numerals with the quantities.

Firework Math Activity – Use pompoms as “fireworks” to sort, count, and graph.

Counting Snowballs Preschool Winter Math – Move the correct quantity of “snowballs” to each number.

These easy math activities for preschoolers are definitely simple to get ready. Print, simple prep, and go! You can use whatever you’ve got on-hand as needed.

Counting Flowers Printable Book – Print, staple, and go! Literacy and math in one easy to make emergent reader.

Apple Counting Book – Grab the crayons or markers. Then get reading and counting.

Spider Counting Book – Use fingerprints to make the correct number of spiders on each page.

Make Way for Ducklings Preschool Number Game – Play a number game based on a favorite book.

Printable Snowman Number Game for Kids – This snowman dice game is a blast, and you can use anything to mark the numbers.

Muddy Pig Game for a Farm Theme – Add “mud” to the printable pig using fine motor skills.

Apple Math Game – Roll the die and add “apples” to the printable apple tree game board.

Printable Valentine Games for Kids – Roll the die and cover the number on these heart-themed dice games.

Slime Monster Counting Activity – Printable monster number cards you can use with googly eyes, slime, or whatever you have available.

Printable Number Cards for Valentine’s Day – Use the number cards to tell you how many hearts to add to the candy jar.

Snack Math for Preschoolers – Pair these simple number printables with snack.

Printable Fall Calendar Number Cards – Use the printable fall numbers to make calendars or work on a variety of early math skills.

Robot Sensory Writing Tray – Printable robot numbers to use with a sensory writing tray.

One-to-One Correspondence Activity with Blocks – We used small blocks to work on counting and one-to-one correspondence. But you can use any available items.

Apple Printable Number Activity – Practice fine motor skills by matching tiny “apples” to the printable number cards.

Lion Printable Ten Frames – Use these ten frames with any loose parts you have available (mini erasers, coins, Lego bricks, rocks, etc.).

Gingerbread Man Printable Ten Frames – Place the correct number of gumdrops on the gingerbread 10 frames.

Transportation Math Activities for Preschoolers – This transportation-themed mini pack has 12 number clip cards, 2 dice games, and 4 number puzzles.

Printable Bunny Shape Mats – Explore shapes with play dough, loose parts, or dry erase markers.

Pumpkin Sorting Activity – Sort the colorful “pumpkins” (or whatever you have on-hand) to the appropriate color card.

Printable Bear Math – Use colorful bears (or play dough) to make patterns.

I can’t resist adding some book suggestions to this list of easy math activities for preschoolers. Reading a book and talking about early math concepts is definitely a low-prep way to teach a little math.

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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 signs.

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.

Educational games in mathematics in kindergarten and at home | Consultation in mathematics (younger, middle, senior, preparatory group) on the topic:

OM Kuznetsova, teacher

GBDOU Kindergarten No. 97 Kalininsky district

of St. Petersburg

Consultation for parents

Speech themes:

Developing mathematics games in kindergarten and house

Mathematics for preschool children- complex science.

And since the game for preschoolers is the main activity of the children, it is necessary to get interested in games aimed at FEMP.

The maximum effect in the formation of EMF can be achieved using entertaining exercises, educational and didactic games.

The role of simple entertaining mathematical material is determined taking into account the age characteristics of children and the tasks of comprehensive development and upbringing: to intensify mental activity, to interest in mathematical material, to captivate and entertain children, to develop the mind, to expand, deepen mathematical representations, to consolidate the acquired knowledge and skills, to exercise application in other activities, new environment.

We decided to use games with Lull's circles.

Lull's circles allow you to create a relaxed and exciting atmosphere of the learning process, make mathematics lessons fun and effective.

The simplicity of the design allowed us to make them with our own hands and use them both in organized and independent educational activities of children.

With the help of Lull's circles and rings, tasks on FEMT for preschoolers are solved: on a visual basis, compose and solve simple arithmetic problems for addition and subtraction; learn to name the next and previous number to the one named or indicated by a number, determine the missing number; fix the composition of the number; learn to recognize geometric shapes in different spatial positions; children develop geometric vigilance: the ability to analyze and compare objects in shape, to find objects of the same and different shapes.

Problems game

Purpose: to consolidate the ability to compose and solve arithmetic problems.

Game progress: put subject pictures on the bottom ring. On the middle - the numbers 1-2 with a sign for + or -, on the top - the numbers from 1 to 9. Spin the circles and use the arrow to determine what task will be. For example, the arrow showed: balls, +1, 6. Children make up an addition problem about balls. “The girl had 6 balls, she was bought another 1. How many balls did the girl have?”.

Shapes game

Purpose: to develop geometric vigilance in children, to consolidate the ability to determine what shapes an object consists of.

The course of the game: place images consisting of geometric shapes on the lower circle, individual geometric shapes on the middle and upper circles. Use the arrow to select the image, then combine with it the geometric shapes on the middle and upper rings that it consists of.

Game "Pick up the number"

Purpose: to consolidate the ability to correlate the number and the number of objects.

Game progress: place numbers on the middle ring, pictures with objects on the bottom one. Use the arrow to select a number. It is proposed to pick up a picture on the bottom circle, the number of items on which corresponds to the figure.

Continue the chain game

Purpose: to develop logical thinking.

Game progress: on the lower ring place cards with a chain of geometric shapes, on the middle and upper ring - separate geometric shapes. Use the arrow to select a card and continue the chain by turning the middle and top circles.

Game “What is a number made of”

Purpose: to consolidate the composition of a number from two smaller numbers. Game progress: decompose the numbers into all three circles. Use the arrow to select the number on the upper circle and use the numbers on the middle and lower circles to find the composition of the number.

Game "Who are the neighbors"

Purpose: to learn to name the next and previous number.

There are many options for games that can be organized with children using this manual. It all depends on the tasks and the material covered.

Play is one of the most important ways of working with preschool children. The game teaching method contributes to the creation of an interested, relaxed atmosphere, the establishment of a communication situation that is psychologically adequate for the age. In play activities, the individuality of the child is revealed, feelings of collectivism and mutual understanding are formed, and the creative abilities of children develop.

Rings of Lull are one of the means of developing the intellectual and creative abilities of children. They allow children to form mobility of thinking, variability of answers within a given topic, introduce an element of play into the lesson, and help maintain interest in the material being studied.

Mathematics is not easy for everyone, so it is in this subject that attention should be paid to interactive classes. And you need to try so that they take place in an interesting form for a preschooler.

Lull's circles make learning fun and the children enjoy it a lot.

O.M. Kuznetsova, Educator

GBDOU kindergarten No. 97 Kalininsky district

St. Petersburg - Petersburg

All -Russian seminar

“Project activity in the preschool educational institution”

Speech themes

Research project in kindergarten: Features of the organization and products of project activities (from work experience)

Project activity is a didactic means of activating cognitive and creative development of the child and at the same time the formation of certain personal qualities.

The project method is the accumulation of independent experience by children, which becomes a driving force for the child, on which the direction of further intellectual and social development of the individual depends.

According to psychologists, cognitive research activity is the leading one from the first year of a child's life.

It implements not only the tasks of children's development, but also their interests. Thanks to cognitive-research activity, the creative potential of the child, his need for new knowledge is realized, the prerequisites for learning qualities are formed, such personal qualities as independence, initiative, creativity, purposefulness develop. Of great importance is the fact that the child receives new knowledge not in a ready-made form, like a dogma, but has the opportunity to independently go all the way to them. Information obtained in this way is more conscious, better remembered and more effectively applied in life.

Stages of implementation of project methods - goal setting, project development, project implementation, summing up.

Algorithm for the development and implementation of the project

Stage 1

- Set a goal based on the interests and needs of children

- Involve children in solving the problem

- At this stage, the "three questions model" method, the method of problem-based learning is used

Stage 2

- Draw up a plan

- Discuss the plan with children and parents

- Together with the children draw a plan - a diagram of the project

Stage 3

- Collecting information and materials

- Conducting research practical work the process of solving a specially modeled problem situation.

Tasks:

1. Develop the ability to search activities
2. Continue to teach children to use previously acquired knowledge and skills in solving cognitive and practical problems
3. Develop artistic taste

Stages of work on the project

- Observation of changes in nature

- Excursion

- Discussion and selection of the project topic

- Search work on the topic

- Exhibition of drawings "Golden Autumn"

- Harvest Festival

Ways to achieve the goal

- Riddles about autumn

- Looking at illustrations

- A conversation about the relationship between natural phenomena and the plant world

- D \ games “What is this?”, “Wonderful bag”, “What branch is the baby from”

Work with parents

- Walks in the forest with the whole family

- Reading literature about autumn changes in nature

- Making crafts from natural materials

- Cooking dishes from vegetables, fruits, berries, mushrooms.

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