Math Activities for Kindergarteners
Bring math to life with your little learner!
Author
Jill Padfield
Published:
Sept 2024
Key takeaways
- Math doesn’t have to be exclusively textbook-taught – In fact, many kindergarten-age students prefer to learn kinesthetically by play.
- Games can incorporate any levels of learning across topics – This means that you can take subjects students learned in preschool and build on them— referencing both new and old skills in play.
- Kindergarten math games can be adapted to your learner’s needs – While it is helpful to have a framework that details rules and basic gameplay, it’s important to remember that you can modify the games as needed.
Gameplay is a great way to teach math to kindergarten kids. Immersing your learners in interactive math activities and lessons allows them to experience learning differently— applying concepts to the dynamic world around them. Parents and teachers can facilitate these activities in a number of different ways that are affordable and easy to pull off.
If you’re looking for inspiration, we’ve got you covered. Our education experts have put together the ultimate list of kindergarten math activities for your reference and use. Read on to learn more about ways you can boost your kindergartener’s confidence when it comes to math and related cognitive skills.
Table of contents
Why are math activities for kindergarteners so important?
Kids love to have a great time, and math is a critical skill in adulthood. Math activities and games serve as the perfect intersection point between education and gamification, bridging the gap and facilitating learning for kids at all skill levels.
Here are a few benefits you can expect when you include kindergarten math activities routinely in your lesson plans:
Student Engagement
Whether you play games in an outdoor area or prefer to work in small groups inside, students have the chance to engage with their environment and friends, mastering critical skills to build on later.
Early Learning
Learning can be a fun activity. By teaching your kindergarten student(s) this now, you will help foster a lifelong love of learning. Incorporating math skills via fun math activities enriches kindergarten students’ early learning experience while introducing them to concepts like place value, number recognition of a given number, and operations with single-digit numbers. They’ll also pick up helpful peripheral skills along the way, like fine motor skills and mastery of their natural sense of creativity.
Socialization
Socialization as a skill is critical for both preschoolers and kindergarten students. Creating curriculum-related opportunities for play and engagement can be helpful to both students and teachers as children begin to explore interpersonal relationships.
25 math activities for kindergarteners
Ready to dig in? Here’s our list of 25 fun ways to incorporate math concepts into your kindergartner’s daily learning experience:
1. Number Hide n’ Seek
This one’s easy to pull off and even easier to play! Color popsicle sticks all the colors of a rainbow and hide them around your play space. As students find each random number, identify them, talk about the number’s ordinal place, and then lay them out in order.
2. Shape Scavengers
Looking to boost shape recognition? Send your students on a scavenger hunt. Create a list of recognizable shapes that you have around your play space. Set a timer and let your players run wild! Whoever finds the shapes the fastest wins.
3. Crazy Count
This activity requires some preparation ahead of time—but it’s worth the effort you’ll put in! Find and purchase a tactile learning set (think linking cubes or kid-safe marbles), and lay it out on a flat surface in your play space. Follow the instructions and let them count, assisting only as needed, as to encourage them to take charge during the activity.
4. Pattern Party
Make math fun and have a pattern party! Simply rifle through your junk drawer or craft box to find old beads, blocks, buttons, or shapes of any kind. Then, prompt students to create patterns based on a single characteristic of the set.
5. Measurement Walk
All you’ll need for this activity is a ruler and your walking shoes! Have your little learner go around a set course either outside or indoors, writing down different lengths of items of their choice. This process boosts familiarization with the ruler, and builds upon other foundational counting and unit-based skills.
6. Counting on the Go
This game can be easily done with multiple students—making it a favorite of large families for after school lets out. Take your student(s) out for a walk and have them count certain sets of objects, like cars passing by or loose rocks on the ground. Take a final tally and count your findings up at the end. Whoever sees the most, wins!
7. Money Match-Up
This activity is great if your learner is beginning to show an interest in money. All it requires is a little bit of prep work, cash, and construction paper.
Cut out several paper cards and draw or paste images of coins on one side. Flip the cards, and place the value of the amount on the back. Then, have them match the actual cash with the paper cards.
8. Super Shape Sorters
Grab your tape and grab your shapes to start this fun game! Place down the tape on your carpet or flooring in the form of basic shapes. They should be shapes that are appropriate to your student’s learning level.
Then, offer your learner a basket of objects with different shapes. Prompt them to sort the objects by the shape they represent into the taped shapes on the ground. This game helps your student practice shape recognition and logic skills, both of which are critical for higher level math.
9. Domino Fun
Dominos are a great way for your students to practice addition and subtraction. You can use them like flash cards; prompting your students to learn operations and then practice them using small, ordinal numbers. You can also use dominos for pattern practice, counting, numerical recognition, and matching.
10. Tallying Tallys
Tally marks are a fun way to introduce your child to the world of data and numerical representation. Offer your student paper and have them count objects around the house, ideally within the same category. Count your tallys and discuss the total number of counted objects at the end.
11. Number Line Hopscotch
Grab your favorite color of chalk and create a hopscotch course, putting numbers in ascending order in the middle of each square. Then, have your students complete the course while counting out loud. This activity doesn’t just reinforce counting concepts and number recognition, but it also supports gross motor skill formation.
12. Time for Fun
This game does require some prior preparation, but it’s worth it! Cut out a cardboard clock and arms, decorating the clock with the proper segments for both the hours and the minutes. Then, ask your students to identify different times on the clock.
13. Counting with Ten Frames
Grab your ten frames* and give your student new opportunities to practice counting and numerical recognition. They’ll also be able to explore new ways to create a given number.
*Ten frames are rectangular 5×2 grids that can be used to count numbers up to 10. Grid squares can be counted using stickers or any other sort of markers.
14. Number Bonds Bonanza
Numerical relationships are critical to more complex math topics. To practice these concepts, have your student pull out number bond mats (or make your own!). Then, walk them through various combinations of numbers, working through the values from smallest to largest. This game will help illustrate numerical relationships!
15. Shape Puzzles
If you’re looking to help your student practice problem-solving and shape recognition skills, consider investing in some shape puzzles! Made of cardboard or foam, your students can safely assemble the pieces to match each shape.
16. Addition and Subtraction with Dice
Specialty education stores sell addition and subtraction dice, which are great to give your students practice with basic operational concepts.
17. Number Race
The best part of this race? You don’t even need to leave your kitchen table. Simply draw a number line on a piece of printer paper, or if you want a bigger course, cut out squares and spread them around a table or floor. Then, grab a token for your student’s “player piece” and a dice, and ask them to move the player piece to the corresponding number of spaces on the rolled dice.
18. Playdough Shape Creations
Playdough is easy to find, affordable, and simple to use. Parents can teach students creativity and number recognition by using playdough to form common numbers (and shapes too, depending on their level of knowledge).
19. Sorting Buttons
This activity is helpful for learners who are learning sorting by attributes, and can be done with any spare buttons and a muffin tin or bowls.
20. Measurement Sensory Bin
If you have tactile learners, this is the activity for you. Start by filling a bin with child-safe materials, such as beans, rice, or sand (which is great for older students). Then, you can hide different objects in the bin, thus prompting your students to sort, measure, and count them, as well as practice any other skill they need to work on.
21. Counting Caterpillars
Grab your scissors and construction paper—it’s time to make some caterpillars. Cut out body segments of different colors for each caterpillar, numbering them as you go. Then, ask your students to connect the body pieces in order to build the caterpillars. You can then have them count out loud to verbally reinforce counting skills.
22. Shape Guessing Game
This activity requires a few minutes of prep time and objects around the house. Grab a pillowcase or a bag, and place the objects that you’ve picked out inside. Have your students feel around the bag, and ask them to guess the item that they’ve chosen, based on tactile feel only. This is a great way to teach shape recognition to learners at all levels.
23. Number Line Dance
It’s time to bust out your dancing shoes! Create a number line on the floor using tape, markers, or paper blocks. Then, play your students’ favorite tunes. Have them dance and skip through the number line, freezing when the music stops. The last person standing on a number wins!
24. Count the Spots on the Ladybug
Follow online instructions of your choice to create a beautiful rainbow ladybug with your student. Then, have them cut out as many dots as they want, counting with you as they glue them to the bug. After the glue is dry, ask them to number each dot, counting out loud as they go. It’s a great activity to try if you want to appeal to visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners alike!
25. Hula Hoops
Hula hoops are a classic way to get kids off of the couch and outside. Grab your hoop and challenge your learner to a competition; counting as you both work to become a hula hooping champion.
Keep the learning going
Embracing math through interactive and engaging activities is a key to early childhood learning. Merging education and fun in kindergarten math games bridges the gap between conventional teaching and playful learning, making math an exciting journey for young minds.
The benefits are abundant, from heightened student engagement to early learning, and the promotion of essential socialization skills. For a comprehensive approach to math education for young learners, we recommend trying Dreambox, a versatile math platform designed for kindergarten to fifth-grade students.
Dreambox Math makes math more accessible and enjoyable for children, promoting a strong foundation in this critical skill.
FAQs about kindergarten math
There are near-endless ways to make math fun for your kindergartener. Incorporating crafts, opportunities to foster both fine and gross motor skills, and games are all examples of ways you can make learning fun.
A kindergartener should be learning basic mathematical functions (usually addition and subtraction), number recognition, number sequencing, pattern recognition, colors, shapes, and critical thinking skills. If you’re not sure what areas of learning you should be focusing on, please speak to your child’s teacher. They can help give you a solid starting point to tailor your at-home learning experiences.
Incorporating counting into daily play games (like hula hoop and hopscotch) can provide simple and accessible learning opportunities for your students.
Your five-year-old should generally be learning foundational math skills, such as number recognition, numerical sequencing, pattern recognition, and critical thinking skills. Your child’s teacher can help you come up with fun ways to enrich their learning experiences at home.
