Hands-On Counting Activities for Preschoolers

Simple Counting Games for Preschoolers

What’s the most dreaded subject for most of the students?

Bingo! It is Mathematics. The reason being the difficulty of this subject.

However, if the basics are strong enough, children will love Math. 

How to make their basics strong?

Introduction to numbers and counting are among the first few things children are taught in their formative years of learning. 

For kids to know numbers and counting better, there’s nothing better than them getting a hands-on experience of different games and counting activities for preschoolers. 

Coming up are some of the most amazing and fun counting activities for preschoolers.

Activities on Numbers and Counting for preschoolers

1. Number Circle

In this counting Math activity for preschoolers, kids have to sit in a circular formation. 

The first kid starts with saying “one”. The next one would say “Two”. Every next kid will say the consecutive number. 

When a kid is not able to tell the next number, he/she will have to perform a task – recite a poem, tell a short story, sing a song or do some dance moves. 

2. Detective Child

To play this game, you have to set up a table with a lot of articles on it. 

You can keep items like one pen, two pencils, three erasers, four sharpeners, five rulers, six markers, seven candles, etc. 

Now, kids have to carefully take a note of all that they can see on the table. For instance, here they can write:

1 pen

2 pencils

3 erasers

4 sharpeners… so on and so forth.

3. Fill-in the cookies

This is a brilliant counting idea for preschoolers. You would need cups, preferably paper cups. You have to mark the cups with numbers – 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on. 

Keep lots of little cookies in a big jar. Alternatively, you can use green peas for this.

Kids have to put these cookies into the cups as per the marked number on the cup. 

In the cup marked “1”, they would drop one cookie. 

In the cup marked “2”, they would count and drop two cookies. Similarly, they have to count and fill all the cups with the marked number of cookies. 

4. Fun with Clay

This idea for hands-on counting activity for preschoolers focuses on the fact that children love to learn through experimenting. 

Here, you would need clay, toothpicks and numbers written on different pieces of paper. 

So, kids have to make clay balls and insert toothpicks. Then, they have to stick the number on the clay.

The first clay ball will have 1 toothpick inserted into it and the number “1” pasted on the clay ball.

On the second clay ball, kids have to put two toothpicks and stick “2” on the clay ball. The same goes on for other numbers. 

5. Mugs at home

This is a simple counting game wherein kids have to find out the number of mugs/glasses at home and stick a number to all of them. 

For example, on the first mug they find at home, they will stick “1”, on the second mug, they will stick “2”, so on and so forth. 

6. Leaves in a plant

You would surely have little plants at your home. Ask children to loudly count the number of leaves in a plant at home.

7. Snakes and Ladders, Ludo

Yes, playing common games like snakes and ladders, and ludo are a great way to enhance one’s grip on counting. 

8. Count and Arrange

Make groups of different articles and place them on a table.

Provide kids with number tags. 

Kids have to count the number of articles in each group and put the number tag on the top of the articles.

For example, if the first section has 7 chocolates, kids will have to count the number of chocolates and put “7” on the top.

9. See it yourself

This is one of the easiest counting number games for preschoolers. 

All you have to do is to sit in the balcony of your house with kids and start counting the number of bicycles and cars passing through a particular road. 

Player 1 will count the number of bicycles and Player 2 will count the number of cars.

In 15 minutes, whoever has the higher count wins the game. 

10. Box of colorful sheets

In this counting game for preschoolers, you need a big box full of colorful sheets and a board where kids can pin these sheets. 

The challenge is to pin these sheets and write the count on the sheets.

Players will take a sheet of paper from the box, pin it on the board and write “1” on the sheet with a marker. 

Then, take another sheet, pin it on the board and write “2” on the sheet. 

The player who pins and marks the maximum number of sheets on the board, wins.

11. Chess at home

We are not talking about actual chess moves but a highly simplified version of moves.

If you have square-shaped or rectangular tiles on the floor, you can mark the tiles with different numbers and then ask kids to count and move to any particular block.

For example, you can say “count and move to the 9th box from your current position”.

12. Zoomania

In this counting game for kids, you need to visit a zoo, which kids will love!

They have to keep a track of the number of birds and animals they saw at the zoo.

For instance, they can have a list like – 4 lions, 10 zebras, 15 deers, 9 ducks, etc. 

13. Count your toys

This is a very simple and competitive game. 

Kids will have to bring their toys and count them in front of you. 

14. Wagons in Train

In this game, you can attach any number of wagons to the toy train and ask your child to count the number of wagons. 

Next, you can change the number of wagons and again ask him/her to count the number of wagons now. 

15. Fun with Chairs

Keep a handful of chairs or any furniture that kids can use for sitting. 

Ask kids to sit on the nth number of chair/furniture in the room. 

For instance, you can ask them to count and sit on the sixth chair in the row. 

16. Counting Circular shapes

In this hands-on counting activity for preschoolers, children have to count the number of objects around them that are in a circular shape – wheels of your own vehicles, plates, etc. 

17. Number of bottles at home

In this activity, kids have to find the number of water bottles at home. Alternatively, you can ask them to count the number of any other object available at home. 

18. Count the building blocks

In this activity, kids would need the set of building blocks game. 

Kids have to create a building through these building blocks using any number of blocks of different colors. 

Then, they have to count the number of each color of blocks i.e. how many of the red blocks have been used in the building, how many of the blue blocks have been used, so on and so forth. 

19. Balls in a sack

Put lots of colored balls in a sack (for single player game) or different sacks (for multiplayer game). 

Ask kids to count the number of balls of each color – the number of red balls, the number of yellow balls, etc. 

20. Hunt for Coins

This is a highly interactive counting game for preschoolers. 

In this hunt for coins, kids have to count the number of objects to find the next clue. If they count the objects properly, they will get the next clue and the series of these clues will lead them to their destination, which has lots of coins. 

They have to count the number of coins as fast as they can. 

The team that is fastest in finishing the hunt will win the game. 

21. Draw and Paint

In this hands-on counting activity for preschoolers, kids have to draw and paint different objects according to the counting.

They can start with writing 1, drawing a simple cloud and coloring/painting it. 

Then, they can write 2, and draw two circles, and color it, so on and so forth. 

Children are fond of games and activities. They can learn a lot if they play the right ones. We hope that you would enjoy playing all the above mentioned games with children at home. 

Frequently Asked Questions on Hands-On Counting Activities for Preschoolers

What are Hands-On Counting Activities for Preschoolers?

The Hands-On Counting Activities for Preschoolers are playdough, detective kids, numbering circle, snakes and ladders, see it yourself, counting the number of planets in the solar system, counting the number of continents on the planet, etc.

What are some of the fun Hands-On Counting Activities for Preschoolers?

Some of the Hands-On Counting Activities for Preschoolers are chess at home, indoor counting games, fun grocery shopping, sorting and counting, counting and sorting the toys, counting the number of color pencils, etc.