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15 Hands-On Math Activities for Preschoolers

by Angela Thayer 23 Comments

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. See my disclosure policy for details.

Math is so fun to teach to preschoolers because there are a lot of daily activities that incorporate math. Preschoolers don’t need worksheets for math…they should learn through play and hands-on activities.

15 Hands-On Math Activities for Preschoolers

1. Patterns with Bears

Counting Bears are a great math manipulative to use with preschoolers. You can sort, count, or use them with patterns.

I created some pattern cards to help with this. The first page is an AB pattern, meaning two colors alternate in the pattern. The second page is an ABC pattern, meaning three are three colors in the pattern. For this activity, your preschooler will set the colored bear on top of the matching color to create a pattern. On the ABC pattern cards, the last circle is left empty. That is for your child to tell you what color it should be.

You can get the color patterns printable at the bottom of this post.

Patterns Printable

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

You can find more pattern activities here.

2. Sorting Colors with Bears

Sorting is a skill preschoolers should work on a lot. One way to sort is by color. We do this with our counting bears and a sorting mat.

You can get the sorting mat printable at the bottom of this post.

Color Sorting Mat You can even use colored tape and pom poms to practice sorting! Add in some tweezers for some extra fine motor practice.

We also love counting mats! These are great for learning to count and working on one-to-one correspondence.

counting mats for preschoolers

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

3. Money Muncher

A fun way to work on sorting is with the Money Muncher! It’s also a great activity for fine motor skills. To see all the fun details, click here.

Money Muncher

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

4. Sorting Jelly Beans

Anytime we work with candy, my kids love it! You can sort M&Ms or jelly beans or whatever! To see how we did this with jelly beans, click here.

Jellybean Math

You can get the jelly bean sorting printable at the bottom of this post.

One more idea for sorting is by using toy animals. Have them sort by different characteristics, such as land animals and sea animals.

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

5. Graphing

Graphing is always good to introduce to preschoolers. It doesn’t have to be complex, but you can do a simple activity like graphing the types of transportation on a bar graph and use small pictures or toys (or I used erasers from The Dollar Tree).

Graphing Transportation

Make graphing hands-on using apples! Even young preschoolers can begin learning about graphing with this activity.

Check out this free gumball graphing activity right here.

Math Skill: Patterns and Relationships

6. Shape Wheel

This is a fun activity for learning shapes! Just print this shape wheel and draw the same colored shapes onto clothespins. Have your child match the clothespin to the shape on the wheel. This is great for working on fine motor skills!

You can get the shape wheel printable at the bottom of this post.

Shape Wheel- Free Printale

Math Skill: Geometry

7. Shape Sorter

An easy way to practice shapes is with a Shape Sorter! I bought these shapes at Michaels Craft Store many years ago, but these 3D geometric shapes would be a good option if you’re interested in creating a Shape Sorter. Check out this post for details on how to make this easy math activity.

DIY Shape Sorter

Math Skill: Geometry

8. Noodle Shape Cards

A neat sensory activity and a fun way to learn shapes are with noodles! See the post here to download the free shape cards.

Shape Cards

Math Skill: Geometry

9. Foam Sticks

Learn shapes in the tub with these foam sticks! You can see how we did this here. Foam Shape Activity

Another fun way to practice shapes is with the cookie shapes matching activity!

cookie shapes matching activity

And my favorite way to teach about shapes is with my shape rhymes!

shape rhymes
10. Dice Game

This is a really fun game! I took this Melissa & Doug wooden toy and put white circle stickers on the top of the pegs. I wrote numbers 1-6 and had 2 stars. I had my son roll the dice and whatever number it landed on, he would pound with a toy hammer. If the number he rolled was already down, he hit the star. Not only was this fun for him, but he was able to “subitize”, which simply means to recognize numbers instantly without counting the dots.

Dice & Number Game

Math Skill: Number Concepts

11. Star Number Cards

Practice counting and recognizing numbers with star number cards. This one is great for working on one-to-one correspondence and fine motor skills.

You can get the star number printable cards at the bottom of this post.

number cards

Math Skill: Number Concepts

12. Ladybug Math

We made these adorable ladybugs and they were a hit! Not only were they fun to play with, but we did a lot of counting and sorting with them. Read all about it here.

Ladybug Math

Math Skill: Number Concepts

13. Balloons

Learn the order of numbers with this really fun game involving balloons! Check out the details here.

balloon number game   Math Skill: Number Concepts

14. Estimating with Water

We learned about estimation with a dropper with some fun, hands-on water activities.

Estimation

Math Skill: Measurement

15.  Pouring and Comparing

We practiced pouring skills with rice into these beakers. Then I had my son line them up from biggest to smallest. Using comparative words like big/small or empty/full help teach preschoolers about simple concepts of measurement. This is simple and you could elaborate on this activity.

IMG_9623
One more easy way to practice measurement is with Unifix cubes. Place different lengths of tape on the floor or poster board. Then have your child use Unifix cubes to measure the lines. This is a simple way to practice counting, measuring, and comparing lengths.

measuring with Unifix cubes

Math Skill: Measurement

Lastly, check out this really easy and fun way to practice counting!

15 Hands-On Math Activities for Preschoolers

If you’re looking for digital math activities, make sure to check out my counting activities using Google Slides.

counting practice using google slides

If you’d like to download the 5 free printables I shared in this blog post, just click on the button below!

Related Posts

  • Shape Rhymes PrintablesShape Rhymes Printables
  • Number Formation RhymesNumber Formation Rhymes
  • Learning Shapes with Spaghetti Noodles!Learning Shapes with Spaghetti Noodles!
  • Math Game with Race CarsMath Game with Race Cars
  • Teaching Math to PreschoolersTeaching Math to Preschoolers
  • Jelly Bean MathJelly Bean Math

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Filed Under: Math, Preschool, Printables Tagged With: math activities

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  1. Elisabeth says

    December 6, 2021 at 12:33 pm

    Love all these activities! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  2. Rebecca says

    August 15, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    Thank you for the great ideas.

    Reply
  3. Dianne says

    February 26, 2020 at 11:09 am

    Great ideas! I teach future teachers, at the college level. Your site is a treasure trove!

    Reply
  4. Hoisingotn Public LIbrary says

    December 16, 2019 at 11:41 am

    We have bins at the library that children can get out at their leisure. I would love to add a bin with the bears and some of the activity mats that you have available.

    Reply
  5. Marlene says

    December 15, 2019 at 2:09 pm

    I love all of these ideas! I only have a few hand-me-down bears f rom teachers but as an OT I only need enough for small groups I just dont k now if I have all of the colors. I think mine are only red and yellow. I would love to have them for in sensory bins to find, pull out and then do the patterns you provided, etc.

    Reply
  6. Nicole Kampwirth says

    December 15, 2019 at 11:18 am

    So many possibilities! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Robin Rasmussen says

    December 15, 2019 at 10:29 am

    I love counting bears for many areas in math. Patterns, sorting, counting, etc. A great tool! I’d love my own set instead of sharing with staff. 😊

    Reply
  8. Alechia says

    December 15, 2019 at 9:29 am

    If I had counting bears in my classroom I would use them at small group time as a math activity. I would also use them as a literacy activity to tell bear stories.

    Reply
  9. Laura says

    January 11, 2018 at 4:11 pm

    Thanks for all these great resources!

    Reply
  10. Letha says

    December 7, 2016 at 4:45 pm

    Thank you your ideas have given me ideas.

    Reply
  11. Toki Castro-Tover says

    May 10, 2016 at 12:15 am

    I am so excited to try this with my 2-year-old! She can already count to 11 but doesn’t put it to physical things.. the stickers and balloon activity will be fun 🙂

    Thanks and Happy Mothers Day 🙂

    Reply
  12. den says

    January 17, 2016 at 11:58 am

    Thank you. Your activities are awesome and fun! kids will surely love it.. It was great help for me as a preschool teacher.

    Reply
  13. Mrs. Amanda says

    September 20, 2015 at 11:23 pm

    I love your ideas they will definitely be put to use, thank you for allowing the free printables!

    Reply
  14. Shecki @ Greatly Blessed says

    December 31, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    Thanks! I’m printing the pattern cards for my 4 year old, and you’ve given me the inspiration to pull out our foamy letters and use them in the bathtub. 🙂
    Shecki @ Greatly Blessed recently posted…Katie’s December Tot TraysMy Profile

    Reply
  15. Linda Vossler says

    August 30, 2014 at 8:16 pm

    Just wanted to say Thank You! I used your pattern printable and I appreciate you having it on here to do so, saved me a lot of time from making my own! Kudos for all the nice things you have on here

    Reply
  16. Carmen Ervin says

    August 11, 2014 at 12:09 am

    Each idea is great . Just what I needed. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  17. Jenna says

    April 21, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    I used your sorting bears idea for my head start kids. GREAT IDEA!!

    Reply
  18. cath says

    October 20, 2013 at 11:25 pm

    They all look such fun, am sure ill use them all thank you

    Reply
  19. Bien says

    October 20, 2013 at 11:20 am

    This is excellent work! Other teachers should see this. I will share it in my facebook!

    Reply
  20. Nichole {youclevermonkey} says

    October 18, 2013 at 10:41 pm

    Great post. Particularly loved your 2D shape sorting wheel as I’d just been writing about teaching 2D and 3D shapes on my blog. Just added a link to your page, hope that’s okay 🙂
    Nichole {youclevermonkey} recently posted…Invitation to create – the first 15 daysMy Profile

    Reply

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  1. Educational’blog – Site Title says:
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    […] https://teachingmama.org/15-hands-on-math-activities-preschoolers/ […]

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  2. Sorting And Comparison – Preschoolife says:
    October 3, 2017 at 10:56 pm

    […] Link: https://teachingmama.org/15-hands-on-math-activities-preschoolers/ […]

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  3. Montessori-Inspired Color Activities Using Wooden Toys and Free Printables | LivingMontessoriNow.com says:
    October 31, 2013 at 11:30 am

    […] prepare a color-sorting activity with a specific number of each point, you could print out the free Color Sorting Mat from Teaching […]

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