Step by Step: Counting and Number Recognition Activity

Sunday night I threw together a quick number recognition activity for Nim. I worked with her on it Monday and she loved it! It was simple, inexpensive and turned out to be great practice for counting as well as number recognition.

Step 1: I stuck smiley face stickers on blank 3X5 index cards, representing the numbers 1-10. I happened to have the stickers, but even simply drawing circles (or another shape) on the cards would have sufficed.

Step 2: I shuffled the cards so that they were NOT in numerical order. So, the first thing Nim did was to put the cards in order. She can count from 1-10, but having to think about putting the cards in order, along with making sure that the cards had the right number of stickers was great counting practice.

Step 3: Once the cards were in order, I let her use a set of number stamps to stamp the correct number on the cards. This is where the number recognition came in -- finding the right number stamp to go with each card. If you don't have number stamps, this could easily be adapted by writing the number on a second set of cards for matching or writing the number on blank stickers or label sheets.

What games do you and your preschooler enjoy playing for number recognition?