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Ladybug Math for Preschool, Kindergarten & 1st Grade

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I am going through a Letter of the Week study with my Four and Two.  Along with reading books, doing crafts, and forming letters, we do a lot of letter-themed math.  I was having trouble finding things for letter L — until I decided to do all ladybugs!  Since their big sister is just finishing kindergarten, we did loads of ladybug math appropriate for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.  I hope you’ll find something you can use at home or in your classroom!

ladybug math free printables 17

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Ladybug Math Ideas & Printables

1) Number Recognition – Ladybugs on a leaf

child pressing sticker onto ladybug worksheet

To practice number recognition, I decorated red office stickers and told my Two (pictured) which number the ladybug wanted to eat.  He covered that number with a sticker.  Because I have three kids learning to recognize numbers, I created one with the numbers 1-10, one with the numbers 10-20, and one with blank circles so I could write much larger numbers for my Five. To read more about it and get your printables, click here.

2) Addition, Missing Addends, Mental Math – Missing Addend Flip Cards

child holding counting ladybug card

I spent a lot of time on these, and I’m so happy with how they turned out.  My Five, who resists a lot of the math I prepare for her brothers because “it’s too easy,” was challenged by these and really enjoyed them. To read more about them and download 45 free missing addend flip cards, visit here.

3) Counting, Number Recognition – Ladybug Count & Clip Cards 

child clipping ladybug counting card

For a set of colorful ladybug count and clip cards from 1-20, visit my original post here.

4) Odd/Even – Ladybug Math Odd & Even

picture of ladybug math activity


I did this activity with just my Five.  It was her introduction to the concept of odd and even.  We took out ten paper circles.  I gave her a number and told her to take turns placing the dots on each side of the ladybug. If the same number of circles was on each side, then the number was even, and she wrote it in the right-hand column. If there was an extra dot, then the number was odd, and she wrote it in the left-hand column.  After a few times placing the dots, she could figure it out in her head.  She also learned that if you can add the same number together to get a number (such as 3+3 = 6), then the answer is always even.

I highly recommend this sort of activity to introduce odd/even! You can get the ladybug printable by clicking here.

5) Shapes, Puzzles – Ladybug Shape Puzzles

ladybug shape puzzles

 

My Two did these ladybug shape puzzles.  Get your free printable from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

6) Counting, Ordering, Number Recognition – Large Floor Numbers 

child with large floor numbers

I got these great ladybug floor numbers from Playing House in Maryland.  My Two just loved them!  He can count to 10, but he gets confused if he starts in the middle. So we had to start over nearly every time he added a new number — no problem, good counting practice! This was also great practice for number recognition and the first time he worked at putting numbers in order.  Afterward his sister tried to get him to stand on a number that she called out, but he was having too much fun running on the number line.  If I showed my kids’ faces on this blog, I’d have to share the picture of him running across the ladybugs.  BIG smile!

 7) Subitizing – Ladybug, Ladybug Roll & Cover 

children playing ladybug roll and cover math game

I think this board game is adorable, and I just love the concept!  You can get your own copy at Oceans of First Grade Fun.  This game requires a numbered die and counters.  Have your kids take turn rolling the die and covering that number on their ladybug. This gives them practice subitizing.  Say, what?  If you’re like me, that’s a new word for you.  It’s just a fancy way of saying: look at a group of something and tell how many there are without counting each individual item.  For example: recognizing that the six dots on a die are 6 — without going 1,2,3,4,5,6.   I played this with my Four and Five.

8) Subitizing, Addition – Ladybug Roll & Cover Addition Game

ladybug roll and cover addition game

Here’s a simple board game that gives your child practice addition and subitizing.  Roll the dice, add the numbers, and cover the number on the board. To see more and get your printable, visit my original post here.

9) Addition – Ladybug Addition Mat

child practicing counting with ladybug addition mat

I saw this idea all over Pinterest and never did figure out who came up with the original idea.  I created this math mat (get yours here) and cut out black circles with my circle punch.  I made a set of numbers and had the big kids (4 & 5) make addition number sentences.

10) Ordering – Ladybug Size Sort

child with ladybug size sort

My Two loved putting these colorful ladybugs in order by size.  You can get them at Confessions of a Homeschooler.

 

Need more free ladybug-themed printables?  Check out these finds:

Ladybug Math Fact Cards

 Touch-Point Number Cards with Ladybugs

Measuring with Ladybugs

Ladybug Number Flash Cards

Get even more freebies!

 

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Reader Interactions

57 Comments

    • annageig

      Sorry I’m late with this reply, Stephanie! I’m so glad you found me and hope that you find lots more you can use! I REALLY liked your “Peace in Learning” post. I definitely raise my voice too much. It takes real humility to be able to admit it out loud to our kids and pray with them about it. I hope I follow your example the next time I start to lose my temper.

      Reply to this comment

  15. Becky

    I love the ladybugs, elephants etc that you have for learning size order (biggest to smallest etc) but when I click on the link an odd page comes up for me to download it, but I get a virus warning from my anti-virus instead. Would love to print a set or two for my homeschooling lessons with my kids!

    Reply to this comment

      • Becky

        It seems to be any of the size sorting printables. They all open to a different website and the download button I click on there just ends up causing a pop up from my anti virus software with a virus warning. I’ve tried the “Ordering – Ladybug Size Sort” and the “Elephant Size Sort” both with the same result. I click on the link provided for the Confessions of a Homeschooler, then her link brings up the other page for the printable that is giving me the virus warnings. http://www.4shared.com/file/145261527/c541930a/ladybugsizesort.html

        Reply to this comment

        • Anna Geiger

          Okay, yes, I know what you’re talking about. This is one of my earlier posts, and I don’t link to her blog anymore because of the 4shared documents. I think that when she started blogging she was on a free server called Blogger, where you have to host your files on another site. She used 4shared, which in my experience is awful to use because it’s confusing and gives virus warnings, as you said. Unfortunately I can’t help you because those aren’t my printables. She has some beautiful ones, but they are so hard to get to. I would contact her via her contact form and hopefully she can help you out. Sorry about that!

          Reply to this comment

  16. Sarah

    Love your ladybug stuff! I’m teaching addition to my Kinders right now and this one is perfect because the ladybug’s back is divided so they know they have to put the dots in TWO groups! They loved it! I adapted it on my blog and linked to you- thanks again!

    Reply to this comment

  19. Laura

    Hi!

    I love all of these resources but the link for the “roll and cover ladybug addition game” isn’t working. Is it possible for you to email me the pdf file?

    Thank you!

    L

    Reply to this comment

  20. Roberta

    So much good information. We just started our little one (4) with math, though she has been doing her numbers. she can recognize her numbers 1-100. Now we wanted to get her started with basic addition. This will keep her having fun!

    Reply to this comment

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