Play These Counting Games At Home Or In School To Teach Children To Count

Use these counting games to reinforce or teach number recognition, the sequence of numbers and to just plain have fun with children.

Muffin Math

This counting game helps preschool age children recognize numbers as well as count and sort.

What You Need:

Felt tip marker, cupcake liners, poker chips or coins or other items children can count and sort.

What you Do:

1. Write the numbers 1-10 (or another sequence you want your children to learn) in the muffin liners.
2. Have your children count and sort that many items into each liner.

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Numerical Hide ‘N Seek

This counting game helps children learn to recognize numbers and their correct order.

What You Need:

Index cards with numbers written on them. You might choose 1-5 or 1-10 or 10-20 depending on your child’s knowledge of numbers.

What You Do:

Show your child or children the number cards. Tell them that the numbers are going to play hide and seek. Have them close their eyes while you hide the numbers in the house, classroom or outside (whatever fits your situation).

Let them loose to find the numbers. When they do ask them to arrange them in order.

Since many children have pets you can have the number cards cut into the shape of the food the pet would like to eat. For example you could cut the number cards into the shape of a fish and tell kids they can feed the “cat” (another cut out) with the numbers in the correct order.

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Cap Toss

During this counting game your children will improve their eye-hand coordination as well as their counting skills.

What You Need:

Permanent marker, bottle caps and large coffee cans.

What You Do:

Mark the coffee cans with dots for each number 1-10. Ask your children to count the number of dots on the cans. Next tell children “The object of the game is to get the same number of caps as there are dots on the can. Let’s count as you fill the can.”

As the children fill the cans with the right number of caps count along.

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Beanbag Toss

To help your children improve eye-hand coordination and identify numbers use this counting game for kids.

What You Need:

Beanbags, marker, cardboard pieces and a cardboard box.

What You Do:

1. Divide the cardboard box into 9 equal squares using the cardboard pieces.
2. Put the numbers 1-9 on the bottom of each of the squares.
3. Allow children to toss beanbags into the squares. When it lands in a square they are to call the number it lands on.

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Counting Beans

This counting game helps your children reinforce the order of numbers.

What You Need:

Large beans, small plastic cups, index cards with numbers on them and the corresponding number of dots.

What You Do:

Have your child pick a card and say the number on the card. Then have your child put a bean on each dot on the number card and count out loud.