Fun Preschool Counting Activities with Sheep

Preschool counting activities are a great way to help young learners build foundational skills that are necessary for learning future math concepts.  Young preschoolers typically have a short attention span, so giving them a fun math activity can help kids stay focused and learn at the same time. 

Benefits of Using Fun Preschool Counting Activities

When we talk about young children, we have to keep in mind that they are growing and developing at fast rates. At the same time, as a home educator, you have the opportunity to meet your young kids right where they’re at. Some children can sit for longer periods of time than others. Other children may require more hands-on activities. Regardless, there are universal benefits for incorporating preschool counting activities in your lesson plans.

Preschool counting activities accommodate different abilities.

Having multiple kids, I will be the first to tell you that not all of my children learn the same, especially at a young age. One of my children wanted to be left alone and given the opportunity to play more than anything. Another one of my children actually enjoyed the one-on-one time with me, whether we were playing a simple game or counting physical objects. Overall, counting activities meets the demands that teaching children with different abilities require.

Using counting activities helps teach important math concepts.

Number identification, understanding numbers, and order of numbers are just a few important math concepts that are vital for young kids to learn. These are the building blocks to the overall knowledge of numbers and how they apply to everyday life. One of the biggest issues older children face in the subject area of math is the lack of properly learning concepts. This makes it harder to add another concept on top of that one. That’s why it is important to focus on what works with preschoolers… and that’s where preschool counting activities come in handy.

Preschool counting activities have physical benefits.

Whether you have a dedicated “math center” or simply use the living room, counting activities with manipulatives helps preschoolers foster fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and writing skills. There are many things that can be used to help in this area, such as:

• using a deck of cards
• frame cards
• unifix cubes
• drawing and counting on a number line
• making a busy bag
• and more!

Fun Preschool Counting Activities with Sheep

I created a counting sheep activity pack to help with all of the above. Each page provides four activities in one:

• number recognition
• coloring
• tracing
• counting

These sheets can be paired with other number sense activities, a different theme, and their favorite books. The idea is to give your early learners fun ways to practice different kinds of math skills all while having fun (and learning) at the same time. 

Interested in other counting activities and free resources?

I have a wide range of counting books that will help your child learn counting to twenty, recognizing numbers and number words, recognize sets under ten, and writing the numbers 1 – 10 through a variety of themed pages. Here are a few I highly recommend downloading:

• Fairy Tale Gnomes Preschool Counting Book
• Bee Gnomes Preschool Counting Book
• Patriotic Gnomes Counting Book

Final Thoughts

As you start (or continue) teaching your preschoolers how to recognize and count numbers, remember to keep it fun. There are many ways to practice counting. From printable activities to using real-life experiences, counting is something that is both taught and also comes naturally. Young children are constantly learning, growing, and developing. They only need to be given the opportunities to do so at their own unique rates.

I’d love to hear from you! What are some ways you help your preschooler learn how to count? Do you use different activities? If so, let me know in the comments below!

Download your Counting Sheep Numbers Activity Pack

Little ones will have fun working on their counting and numbers, while practicing their handwriting skills (and even a little reading and spelling) with our Counting Sheep Numbers activity pages.