| Preparing Your Child for Preschool, Kindergarten & 1st Grade Too! |
Fun, low-cost ways to educate your child from home. |
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| Copyright: All content on this site is owned by Jennifer Foote. |
| Counting: A Fun Preschool Activity |
| At first glance, counting may not seem like a very fun preschool activity. Your toddler, preschooler, or kindergartener, may get bored with counting right away. The key is to mix it up with other fun activities. Such as: |
Fruits and Vegetables
This is best done right after a shopping trip, as you are likely to have more
produce on hand. Grab a bowl of fruits and vegetables and sit at the table
with your child. Have them count the fruits and vegetables. They can start by
counting them all, sorting into groups to count those, and so forth. Fruit and
vegetables also work good for showing your child adding and subtracting.
Leaves
Every fall, my daughter and I go on a leaf hunting adventure. We later use
these leaves for fall craft projects. I use a plastic bag and she uses a plastic
backpack from Dora the Explorer. When we get home, we count all the leaves.
Colored Beads
In our house, we mostly use colored beads for craft projects, but you can also
use them for counting. Put colored beads on a table. Have your child count all
the beads. For extra fun and learning, have them short each bead by color
and then count the color piles. As with fruits and vegetables, you can also use
this approach to introduce your child to adding and subtracting.
Count the Road Signs in the Car
Counting is a great preschool activity for home, but you can also do it in the
car. Have your child count as many road signs as they can see. With stop
signs, speed limit signs, deer crossings, and so forth, there will be a lot for
them to count!
Note: Children not only learn to count from practice, but by listening too. My
daughter always ran into trouble with the numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19. They
would get mixed up. So, I started counting to 20 whenever I could. This
would be “20 more seconds and I’ll be done blow drying your hair,” or “20
seconds and your food will be ready to eat.” If your child is having problems
with a certain number, focus on those numbers and encourage them to count
with you.
This is best done right after a shopping trip, as you are likely to have more
produce on hand. Grab a bowl of fruits and vegetables and sit at the table
with your child. Have them count the fruits and vegetables. They can start by
counting them all, sorting into groups to count those, and so forth. Fruit and
vegetables also work good for showing your child adding and subtracting.
Leaves
Every fall, my daughter and I go on a leaf hunting adventure. We later use
these leaves for fall craft projects. I use a plastic bag and she uses a plastic
backpack from Dora the Explorer. When we get home, we count all the leaves.
Colored Beads
In our house, we mostly use colored beads for craft projects, but you can also
use them for counting. Put colored beads on a table. Have your child count all
the beads. For extra fun and learning, have them short each bead by color
and then count the color piles. As with fruits and vegetables, you can also use
this approach to introduce your child to adding and subtracting.
Count the Road Signs in the Car
Counting is a great preschool activity for home, but you can also do it in the
car. Have your child count as many road signs as they can see. With stop
signs, speed limit signs, deer crossings, and so forth, there will be a lot for
them to count!
Note: Children not only learn to count from practice, but by listening too. My
daughter always ran into trouble with the numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19. They
would get mixed up. So, I started counting to 20 whenever I could. This
would be “20 more seconds and I’ll be done blow drying your hair,” or “20
seconds and your food will be ready to eat.” If your child is having problems
with a certain number, focus on those numbers and encourage them to count
with you.
