Preschool Math DIY Counting Cards

For our preschool math activities, I decided to make simple DIY counting cards. If you’ve seen my DIY flower counting sticks, you recall that I love to make these for our small group activities. Using these types of props is a fun way to expose young children to numbers and counting. You can use them over and over again, tweaking the activity depending on their level.

If you are looking for more math activities, head on over to my math board on Pinterest!

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What you will need:

cardstock
foam numbers with adhesive backing

Assembling these cards:

Cut the card stock to desired size. Remove the backing on the adhesive numbers and press one number on each card. How many numbers you decide to use is up to you.

How we used these counting cards:

For a small group activity, I gave each child a different number card.

I filled a bowl with poker chips (that we also use for many different activities).

The preschoolers recognized the number and placed that many poker chips either on the card or beside it.

When doing this as an independent activity, I place the cards on a placemat with the bowl of poker chips beside it.

When doing this during circle time, I have several sets of each number. I hand each child a card, and I also display each number card in the middle of the circle. The preschoolers then take their card to the middle of the circle and place it under the matching card.