Before children can begin to do mathematical calculations, they need to master some basic pre-math skills, including counting, number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, recognizing shapes and making comparisons. Here are some fun math activities to help children practice these skills.
Math Activities for Counting
Children need to learn the names of the numbers and the order they are in. The best way for them to learn this is to do a LOT of counting:
- Count their fingers and toes.
- Count steps when out walking.
- Count the number of raisins on their “ants on a log,” (and count them backwards as they disappear into kid’s tummies.)
- Sing lots of counting songs, such as “Ten Little Dinosaurs,” This Old Man,” “The Ants go Marching,” etc.
Math Game for Preschoolers to Practice Number Recognition
Help children learn to recognize numbers from 1 to 4 by playing Math Mother May I with numbered flash cards.
- Have the children line up across one end of a room. Stand at the other end.
- Hold up a flash card with a number from 1 to 4 on it.
- Tell a child to take “this many” baby steps, bunny hops or scissors steps.
- If the child remembers to say "Mother may I?", she gets to take the steps.
- If the child forgets to say "Mother may I?", she has to go back to the starting line.
- The first child to make it all the way across the room wins.
Hands-On Math Activities for One-to-One Correspondence
Pointing at things one at a time while counting them is the hands-on way for children to learn one-to-one correspondence. Put three objects in a row. Invite a child to count them. Rearrange the objects and have the child count them again. This helps the child see that numbers always stay in the same order, and that each object only gets counted once.
Setting the table is another hands-on way for children to practice one-to-one correspondence because they have to count several different categories of items—plates, spoons, knives, forks, napkins and cups. Choose a different child each day to help with this.
Math Activities for Shape Recognition
Children need to be able to recognize geometric shapes such as squares, triangles, circles, stars and rectangles and to name them correctly. Here are two fun activities for shape recognition:
- Make a flannel board pumpkin out of orange felt and cut a variety of shapes out of black felt that the children can use to make Jack-o-Lantern faces.
- Take a “shape hike” and see how many shapes the children can spot on a walk around the block. Back in the classroom, make a graph to compare how many of each shape was seen.
Three Bear Math Activity to Teach Comparisons
Use three bears in different sizes to help children understand about comparisons. First, explain that comparisons such as biggest and smallest, tallest, shortest, etc. depend on what something is being compared with:
- Show children the bears and ask which is smallest and which is biggest.
- Take the smallest bear away. Now the middle bear is smallest.
- Put the smallest bear back and take the biggest bear away. Now the middle bear is biggest.
- Add more bears of different sizes and invite children to do their own comparisons.
Math is Fun
Shapes, comparisons, number recognition, one-on-one correspondence and counting are all important pre-math skills that young children can readily learn if helped to do so in a fun, relaxed way with activities and games such as those listed above. For more great math ideas for preschoolers, see Math Games for Preschoolers and Teaching Math to Preschoolers.
Patricia McFadden - Patricia McFadden, who also writes as Grian McFadden, is a former pre-school teacher and children’s librarian. She has an MFA in ...
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