Are you looking for some easy math activities for preschoolers that will keep them entertained, engaged, and learning?
You’ve come to the right place!
Whether you’re a homeschooling parent, a preschool teacher, or just a parent looking for ways to help your child learn math, there are lots of great preschool math activities that will be sure to provide hours of fun.
At such a young age, preschoolers’ minds are rapidly developing, and they can absorb information quickly.
In the guide below, we’ve put together 25 fun apps and activities to help preschool-aged kids practice number recognition, number writing, and simple addition and subtraction techniques.
The Best Math Activities for Preschoolers
Here are some of our favorite math activities that young kids are sure to enjoy…
Apps
1. HOMER
HOMER - The Essential Early Learning Program and App for Kids 2-8
HOMER is a personalized learning app designed to help kids fall in love with learning. There are over 1,000 learning activities across all subjects, and the content is tailored to your child's age and interests.
Homer is an app that is excellent for many preschool learning topics, especially math. It’s geared towards children ages 2-8, and is an excellent resource to use in conjunction with your teaching activities.
Homer features a variety of interactive lessons, games, and activities that are tailored according to the student’s individual skills, age, and interests.
HOMER pricing across its plans is as follows:
- Annually Plan: $59.99 per year
- Lifetime: $99.99 one-time payment
Each membership includes up to 4 child profiles.
In addition to in-app games and learning interactive activities, Homer offers offline printable worksheets to use when you are not providing screen time. The graphics are bright, themed, and geared for each age of child.
Click here to try Homer free for 30 days.
2. ABCmouse
ABCmouse
ABCmouse is one of most popular learning apps for little kids ages 2-8. It includes educational games, books, puzzles, and more to help kids learn in a fun, effective manner.
ABCmouse is an online learning platform for children ages 2-8. Math lessons are available on this app, and it also includes reading, science, and art curricula.
ABCmouse uses games and activities to engage children in building their math skills, from number recognition to time and measurement. There are also short video lessons, songs, puzzles, and more to help kids learn the basics of math in a fun, engaging, and memorable way.
ABCmouse pricing is as follows:
- Monthly: $12.99 per month
- Short-Term: $29.99 every 6 months
- Annually: $59.99 per year (up to 60% off the regular price)
Click here to check out the 30-day free trial.
3. Elmo Loves 123s
If you have a Sesame Street lover in your house, this app is for you! This app is a great preschool math app to introduce the concepts of numbers.
The lessons start with identifying the number and having students trace the number with their finger.
There are coloring pages, counting games, and songs associated with each number.
The app is a one-time cost of $4.99, so it’s low-cost and educational.
Unlike other educational apps, like Homer, this app does not provide the option for child profiles.
Find the app on the following app stores: Apple, Google Play
4. IXL Preschool Math
IXl is an educational platform used by many high schools for math, science, English, and many other subjects.
IXL has a preschool math section that contains practice quiz questions.
This is not an interactive, game-based learning platform. The focus is on assessing knowledge in quick quiz form.
5. Math Kids
Math Kids is a game-based math learning app. Through this free app, kids can learn to count, add, and subtract. Graphics are bright and colorful to help engage preschoolers.
Find the app on the following app stores: Apple, Google Play
Activities
6. Number Tracing
A little tracing practice can go a long way. For this activity, you can print traceable number sheets and have children trace the numbers with a marker.
An artsy alternative is to write numbers on paper plates and have the kids paint over the numbers.
Why not just use regular paper and paint? You certainly can, but sometimes it’s more fun to paint numbers on paper plates.
To add another level to the activity, have kids make dots of paint on the opposite sides of the plates (after the first side has dried). Then they can practice counting too!
7. Neighborhood Number Hunt
It’s a beautiful day to go outside and take a walk. Why not look for some numbers too? As you stroll through your neighborhood, have your preschooler identify numbers on houses. You can start small by saying “let’s see if we can find a 2”. Once they can identify numbers 1-10, you can practice naming the actual house numbers on your block.
8. Block Tower Counting
Counting and building with blocks helps preschoolers’ practice both their math and problem-solving skills. It is a great form of tactile learning. Practice making block towers for each number. Make it a challenge to see what the biggest number tower will be.
9. Math Scavenger Hunt (Indoors)
Kids love to search and find. For this activity, you can hide numbers around your house. To keep this part simple, write them on construction paper with a marker. As kids find the number cards, practice saying the number with them. For the tactile learner, it’s also a good idea to have them trace the number with their finger.
10. Play-Doh Numbers
Modeling with Play-Doh is so much sensory fun. You can write numbers large on an 8.5×11” sheet of paper. Preschoolers will then roll their play-doh and try to make the number out of play-doh on top of your written number. If they are already great at writing their numbers, this is still a fun activity for sensory practice. An added bonus is to have them use play-doh in the shape of balls to show their counting skills for each page.
11. Numbers in Nature
Grab some chalk and hit the pavement! In this activity, you can write numbers with chalk outside. Preschoolers can then search in nature for sticks, rocks, leaves, etc. They use their nature findings to trace over the numbers. To enrich this activity, challenge them to only use the amount of nature items that match their number. It can be a difficult task, but it will tap into their creativity and problem-solving skills.
12. Hopscotch
Tried and true hopscotch is a great activity for practicing numbers. Some preschoolers might want to jump on specific numbers, rather than play hopscotch. This is great for number recognition. Ask them to jump the correct number of times for each number on the hopscotch board.
13. Math Matching Game
For this matching activity, you can use paper cut into puzzle pieces or choose a theme. Some common themes include cookies, trains, fruit, shapes. One side of the match is the number written “7” and the other side is 7 dots. Students practice matching the correct pieces together to enrich their number recognition and counting skills.
14. Counting & Cooking Pizza
Get your aprons and get ready to make some pizza. For this kitchen activity, you can make your pizza by rolling out dough or purchasing pre-made pizza dough. Math is embedded in every part of this lesson. Practice measurements with your children as you go through the pizza prepping process. Once the pizza is cooked, take it out of the oven and cut it into slices. Task your preschooler with adding a different amount of each topping to each slice of pizza. Practice counting the toppings on each slice. For extra fun, use the toppings to make numbers on each slice of pizza. You can cook your toppings into the pizza for a few more minutes after this task is done. Then sit down and enjoy your art and math-inspired lunch.
15. Dot-Art Numbers
This is a simple activity that uses dot markers. There are free printable worksheets online that can be used to have students dot the paint into the circles. It’s a great activity for number recognition. If you don’t have dot markers, you can cut a sponge into a circle shape, or any shape! The sponge can then be dipped into paint.
16. Dice and Dash
This is a fun activity to get a preschooler’s body moving. You will need paper (to write big numbers on), dice, and tape. This can be done indoors or outdoors, but outdoors is ideal. Place or tape the numbers a few feet away (an extra few feet if they need to get out some wiggly energy) and have them roll the dice. Practice counting the number that they rolled, and have them run to that number.
17. Counting with Cheerios
Counting and a snack, it’s a real time-saver. You can use cheerios and actual bowls for this activity. If you opt not to use actual bowls, you can print out pictures of bowls to use. If you print out pictures of bowls, you can write different numbers on each paper. If you have actual bowls, you can place pieces of paper with a number in each bowl. Allow your preschooler to try and count the correct number of cheerios into each bowl.
18. Number Relay
This is another running activity, but it is different than the one listed above. For this activity, have your preschooler shout out a number. The task is to then run to a pile of items (balloons, balls, stuffed animals, etc.), and collect the number they shouted out. Once they return, count the items together. The next number can be a choice again, or the next number in the sequence.
19. Number Surprise Box
Grab some shoe boxes for this activity. It’s best to vary the counting objects in each box to keep preschoolers interested. For example, in box 1, place 1 teddy bear, and in box 2 place 2 toy cars. You can wrap up the boxes for some extra tactile fun. The idea is to unwrap the box and count the objects inside. You can also have them practice writing the number on the inside or outside of the box.
20. Number Garden
This is a great spring-themed counting activity. You only need construction paper, a glue stick, and a marker. You can also use printer paper and have preschoolers practice their coloring. The idea is to make a flower center with a number on it. Numbers 3-10+ work best. Then cut out some flower petals. Preschoolers will glue the correct number of petals for each flower. Then glue all the flowers onto one piece of paper to make a number garden.
21. Counting Autumn Leaves
This activity has an added science bonus to talk about why leaves change color. If you do not have falling leaves in your climate, you can print out leaves or cut them out of paper. You can have kids use a basket or other collection bucket of their choice for this activity. Identify a number that you would like them to collect, and then the preschooler collects that number of leaves from your backyard, park, or other area. This is a great activity to get out in nature, feel nature, and practice counting!
22. Winter-Themed – Counting with Snowmen
This counting task can be done from the warmth of your home. It has many counting components, and can be changed based on what you want to practice. For this activity, have multiple of each snowman’s body parts ready. For example, if you want to make a snowman with three circles, cut out 5. This will help preschoolers practice counting the correct number, rather than have the correct number already counted for them. You can plan the activity as follows: 1 (nose), 2 (eyes), 3 (body), 2 (arms), 4 (mouth), 5 (snowflakes falling), 6 (buttons), 7 (scarf). There is room for variety, but in the end, it is an entire art project based on counting. You can incorporate science into this lesson by reviewing the senses as you talk about the parts of the snowman.
23. Bean-bag Toss Addition
This is a fantastic activity for preschoolers who mastered number recognition and counting, and are ready for addition. Bean bags are ideal, but we don’t all have an endless supply of bean bags to use. Balls are a great alternative. Set up a hula hoop so that it is standing. It is best to lean it on a chair, so there is an area below the chair to throw items through. You can start the activity and build up (ex: 0 bean bags + throw 1 bean bag= 1 bean bag), or you can place one bean bag through the hoop to start. The idea is to ask preschoolers to throw bean bags into the hoop and count the total result.
24. Cookies and Milk Subtraction
Oh no! There is only one cup of milk, and all the cookies won’t fit in. For this activity, you can grab some real cookies, or use a paper version. Set up scenarios for your preschooler in which they have to calculate the number of cookies left over after the cup of milk is full of cookies. You can keep repeating the scenario with different subtraction problems.
25. Addition and Subtraction with Pom Poms
You can do crafts, science, sensory bins, letter practice, and MATH with pom poms. They are a homeschooling mom’s best friend. For this activity, write out simple math problems. You can also find free printable worksheets online. Use the pom poms as a counting tool to practice both addition and subtraction.
Have you tried any of these math activities for preschoolers before? What did you think? Share your thoughts and questions by leaving a comment below.