Today I’m sharing another free printable in our Counting Bin series!
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Today I’m sharing an activity inspired by one in the book Preschool Math at Home, by Kate Snow. I was amazed at how well this worked to keep my three-year-old’s attention and improve her counting!
I created four sets of cards, each one featuring a different small manipulative. On each card there are 1-10 of a particular manipulative.
- Unifix cubes
- Pennies
- Legos
- Counting bears
The other half of the card is blank. I call these “copycat cards” because I asked my daughter to copy the arrangement printed on the card.
We started simple. Could she put one unifix cube on the opposite side?
At first she simply placed the cube on top of the pictured one, but she caught on quickly.
Each time we flipped a new card, she noted what kind of manipulative to use and grabbed a small pile.
I loved how much fun she was having!
Every time we had a card with the numbers 1, 2, or 3, I asked her how many there were before we began. She could always tell me without any trouble.
“Fwee! Because I’m fwee!”
When we got to 4 or more objects, she had to count with her finger.
And I was so thrilled that she could do it this time! We have just started focusing on counting with our counting bin activities, and it’s working! Just a few days ago she couldn’t count groups of objects past 3. She would count too fast and end up with a number too big or small.
But she’s got it now!
She could even count six objects! Yay!
The cards include objects up to 10, but this was the highest number that we attempted today.
One step at a time.
We hope that you can use these copycat cards with your learners! And if you don’t have the pictured manipulatives, you can just use blank paper and create the arrangement yourself before asking your child to copy it.
See the whole series here
Get your free copycat cards!
Do you have our preschool math curriculum?
Preschool Math Curriculum for Home
$24.00
This curriculum contains a wide selection of no-prep/no-worry math activities that suit your youngest learners. It’s an excellent timesaver when you’re looking for hands-on math!
Free Math Printables for Pre-K-3rd Grade
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Martha.
I am loving everything from you. I teach kids for whom English is not their home language and your simplified fun way of teaching is working wonders. I feel like i am breaking through for the first time in years. I am not even keeping to the prescribed syllabus. But I am getting better results . Bless you.
Anna G
What a wonderful encouragement for me, Martha! Thank you so much for letting me know that my materials are working for your students!
aqueena
I have a 2 year old grandson and this will help out a lot. I teach older students and you show how to break it down for very young child. Thank you
Anna G
I’m so glad you can use these, Aqueena!