12 Interesting And Fun Math Activities For Preschoolers

Math activities for preschoolers need to be fun and engaging. Little children are quite curious, enthusiastic, and creative. They explore ideas and objects independently and derive great learning from them. Thus, it is essential to harness this quality of preschoolers by introducing them to math concepts in an engaging and interactive manner.

So, if you are looking for creative ideas to introduce numbers to your little ones, you are at the right place. This post offers you some fun math activities for preschoolers that are easy to undertake and do not require expertise or worksheets.

12 Math Activities For Preschoolers

Engage your child in these simple and playful math activities to help them learn the basics of math, such as counting, matching, and sorting, and improve their memory, fine motor, and cognitive skills.

1. Roll and dot the number

Roll and dot is a simple and fun activity for children to learn and recognize numbers.

Materials required:

• Dice
• Dot marker
• Paper printed with numbers 1 to 6

How to do:

• Roll the dice and identify the number represented on them by counting the dots.
• Look for the number on the printable paper.
• Circle the number with a dot marker.
• Continue these steps until all the numbers are identified.

2. Counting bears number strips

Counting bears on number strips is a great way for preschoolers to learn and identify numbers while playing with the colorful bears.

Materials required:

• Printable number strips with circles 1 to 10.
• Counting bears

How to do:

• Place the counting bears on the table and put the number strips next to them.
• Count the circles on the strips and place an equal number of bears on them.

3. Build and measure block center

Let your child explore measurement by building towers and measuring their height. This activity can also be beneficial for comparing the heights.

Materials required:

• Wooden blocks
• Measuring tape

How to do:

• Place the blocks one over the other to form a tower.
• After the tower has been built, measure the height using a measuring tape.
• You can also place the measuring tape on the wall and challenge your child to build a tower as tall as the tape.

4. Button sorting cups

Sorting the colored buttons is an amazing way for pre-schoolers to identify colors and number them. It also develops fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and concentration.

Materials required:

• Colored buttons
• Colored cup

How to do:

• Place the buttons on the table and put the colored cups next to them.
• Pick the buttons and put them in their respective colored cups.
• Continue the activity until all the buttons have been sorted.
• Ensure every cup is filled with the right number of buttons. This number can be decided at the beginning of the activity.

5. Tree play dough number mats

Playdough number mats help children improve their counting skills. By decorating the tree with playdough fruits, they will learn to identify numbers and count.

Materials required:

• Tree playdough number mat
• Playdough flowers and fruits

How to do:

• Identify the number on the mat.
• Count the number of fruits or flowers and place them on the tree.

6. Colors and patterns

Colors and patterns is an interesting activity for children as it keeps them occupied and helps them in identifying colors and numbers. This hands-on activity also helps develop children’s fine motor skills.

Materials required:

• Popsicle sticks
• Dot stickers
• Marker
• Pom poms

How to do:

• Color the dot stickers to match them with the color of the pom poms.
• Paste them on the popsicle sticks to form a pattern.
• Place the pom poms on the dot stickers to match the colors.

7. Counting math tray

This is a super simple counting activity that develops fine motor skills and number recognition in young children. This fun activity does not require any early preparation.

Materials required:

• Foam numbers
• Clothespin
• Tray

How to do:

• Place some foam numbers and clothespins in a tray.
• Pick up a foam number and identify it.
• Clip the correct number of clothespins on the foam numbers.
• Repeat the same process for the remaining numbers as well.

8. Ladybirds in a leaf

Perfect for nature lovers, Ladybirds in a Leaf is a creative math idea for children to learn counting and number recognition. It is easy to set up and can be played anywhere.

Materials required:

• Numbered leaves
• Mini ladybird erasers

How to do:

• Take out the numbered leaves and arrange them randomly.
• Identify the numbers on each leaf.
• Count the mini ladybirds and place them on the respective leaves.
• You may use printed ladybirds instead of erasers.

9. Symmetry with Lego bricks

This is an adventurous activity for pre-schoolers as it allows them to experiment, test, and form new ideas while learning symmetry. It develops fine motor skills and dexterity.

Materials required:

• Lego building blocks
• Lego base plates
• Painter’s tape

How to do:

• Place the tape down the middle of the base plate.
• Arrange the Lego blocks at one side of the tape, leaving the other side blank.
• Let your child complete the other side by matching the blocks.

10. Car color sorting

Bring the concept of color recognition and sorting by numbers to your child’s playtime with some toy cars.

Materials required:

• Colored toy cars
• Colored chalk

How to do:

• Draw circles with different colored chalks.
• Place the cars near the circles.
• Encourage your child to sort the cars by colors and put them in colored circles.
• You can also ask your child to number each car.

11. I spy shape glasses

Take your children on a shape hunt by using spy magnifying glasses. This is an interesting hands-on activity that develops shape recognition in them while interacting with the environment.

Materials required:

• Black card stock
• Ziploc bags
• Glue
• Scissors

How to do:

• Make your spy magnifying glasses by cutting out a template of magnifying glasses from the card stock.
• Cut out a circle from the template for the glass portion. Use Ziploc bags as the glass in the magnifying glass template.
• Cut out a shape from a piece of paper and color it. Place it in between the plastic layers of the Ziploc bag.
• Now cut the Ziploc bag in a circle and stick it to the magnifying glasses. Your spy shape glass is ready to use.
• Go for a shape hunt and trace the shapes around you by using the I spy shape glasses.

12. Fish in a bowl

Fish in a Bowl is another exciting and fun game where children learn and practice number recognition as well as counting.

Materials required:

• Bowl
• Fish toys
• Numbered papers

How to do:

• Arrange 10 bowls on a table.
• Label the bowls with numbered papers from 1 to 10.
• Place some fish toys near the bowl.
• Ask your child to recognize the number, count the fish, and put them into the bowl accordingly.

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