This Christmas counting activity is perfect holiday fun.

I’m sure you’re just like me: you hear Christmas and you immediately think “What activity can I come up with using dot stickers?” Right? Isn’t that just what you were thinking?! Maybe it’s just me… oh well, I’ve said it before and I’m not ashamed to admit it: I have a dot sticker addiction and this Christmas counting activity falls right in line with the many other sticker activities in my life.

Dot stickers are so perfect for Christmas activities – look at this alphabet dot sticker activity from Mom Inspired Life or this easy color matching activity from Fantastic Fun and Learning. Dot stickers go with Christmas – might as well be the new holly berry.

Get ready for some easy counting fun.

Why do I love dot sticker activities?

Simple – they’re simple. See what I did there? Dot sticker activities are usually easy activities to put together and this Christmas counting activity is the perfect example.

You need practically nothing to set it up and yet kids will focus on this activity for about 10 minutes of work time. I’ll take 10 minutes of “unload the dishwasher” in peace time any day.

Here’s the quick materials list

Materials:

(this list contains affiliate links)

• butcher paper
• markers – spoiler alert: I used Mr. Sketch markers here…remember those?!
• dot stickers

I grabbed my long roll of butcher paper and quickly drew 10 trees on it. I had to cut my tree farm in two pieces because my wall isn’t long enough – there’s no master secret to why I split them other than for space. I handed my son (4 years old) his dot stickers and away he went.

The truth about why this activity is so awesome.

Yes, this activity is awesome because it’s fun.

Yes, it’s awesome because it holds little attention spans.

But the real reason it’s so awesome is because it packs in a ton of learning. It’s a fine motor skills activity. But it’s also a “following directions” activity. Oh and it’s a big time math activity.

It’s more than just counting.

This Christmas counting activity is way more than just counting. This is an activity rooted in quantity aka “how much” is a number. A child can count to 10 long before they can show you the number 10. And that’s what my son is doing here: he’s showing the value of each number.

It is one skill to be able to count to a number from memory.

It’s a whole other skill to be able to show, understand and know the value of a number. Knowing the value of a number is the skill you need in order to do addition and subtraction. My four year old isn’t ready for that yet – he’s still busy learning value. Activities like this are key for developing that skill.

Setting up this Christmas counting activity was a great way to play with numbers, work on quantity, and have a little Christmas fun. And it’s yet another perfect demonstration of the power of dot stickers. Don’t under estimate those guys!

When will you try this Christmas counting activity?