Easy Counting Activity for Preschoolers

Table of Contents:

1. Let’s get our numbers on with this easy counting activity.
2. Grab your markers – let’s get counting!
3. Here’s the quick materials list
4. The ‘something extra’ to make this even more fun
5. Why this activity is on the wall not on the ground
6. Will you try this easy counting activity with your child?

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Let’s get our numbers on with this easy counting activity.

I love teaching kids. It’s in my DNA, it’s what I was born to do and I love having three “students” to play with at home. Obviously, by students I mean the offspring I gave birth to but I know you feel me.

They are my built in class.

And my first born “student” is knee deep in number activities right now because that is what he’s interested in. He wants play-based. He wants numbers. I am cool with these “demands”.

Grab your markers – let’s get counting!

I made my oldest (4 years old) a really easy counting activity.

Why?

Couple of reasons, thanks for asking:

1. I’m working with him right now on understanding quantity. That numbers represent a group of objects (ex: 8 means 8 bananas).
2. I’m building his tactile (touch) understanding of math.
3. It’s just really good play-based practice.

Here’s the quick materials list

Materials
(this list contains affiliate links)

• Butcher paper
• Giant sharpie marker
• Do-a-Dots markers

There’s not much to this easy math activity: I rolled out the butcher paper and taped it to the wall (I used blue painter’s tape because it’s what was closest). I wrote the numbers one through ten then went back and added a little something extra…

The ‘something extra’ to make this even more fun:

On each letter, I added that many dots to the number (so number 1 had one dot, number 7 had seven dots).

I did this to give my son a counting boost and to also give him a chance to touch the math and work with the numbers. He could see 4 dots on the number 4. He could see the number / quantity going together.

Every time he moved numbers, he called out the name then counted to the number as a touched each dot with his marker.

Down and back he went – because obviously he did this three times over. He couldn’t get enough!

Why this activity is on the wall not on the ground

Oh and one more thing.

There was method to my madness and a reason that the surface was up on a wall, not down on the ground.

It takes a whole other set of arm muscles to hold a marker up and out, rather than pointing it to the ground. This activity is great for math practice but it’s also great for strengthening arm muscles and helping children develop their strength.

I love this for the simplicity, the ease, and most of all, the great learning practice for my son. What an easy way to practice counting and in such a tactile way!

Will you try this easy counting activity with your child?