Young children learn best through play!
Here is a fun, playful way to help toddler, preschool, and kindergarten age practice counting form 0-20. Kids will love making silly monsters with googly eyes
For fun, creative, LOW PREP math practice see our 2000+ page of free math worksheets
Counting with Googly Eyes
This activity is simple and FUN!
Just print off one of the monster mats below, get a big bag of googly eyes and the dice template or make your own dice with wood cubes and googly eyes.
To Play:
There are several ways to play this game both independently or in a friendly competition to see who can get to 20 eyes on their monster first.
- Just roll the googly eye dice and place that number of eyes on the monster. Continue rolling until you get to 20 eyes. Make sure to use math words like “plus”, “more” “add”, etc. to help kids learn the math vocabulary.
- Use a dice that has 2 sides of the dice colored red. When your child rolls a red side they will remove the number of dice they rolled. Use math words like “minus” or “less” or “take away” or “subtract” to help enhance the learning experience.
TIP: Have children count out the number of new eyes to add and then count on from the number of googly eyes already on them. This will help them get the reinforcement with larger numbers that can be lacking for many children.
For example my daughter’s monster has 3 googly eyes on already. She rolls 2 googly eyes so she counts out two eyes from the pile. She will then count on saying “4 and 5. My monster has 5 eyes altogether”
Counting Activities for Kids
- Barnyard Counting Clip-On (Counting 1-10)
- Bowling Count to 10
- Catch 20 Bugs Math Counting Game
- Firefly Catch Game (addition/subtraction)
- Hungry Caterpillar Flashcards
- Number Mats (use with playdough, lego, stickers, etc.)
- Number 1-20 Puzzles
- Number Trains (counting 1-20)
- Plant a Number Line
- Safari Count to 30 Game
- Spring Counting Cards
- Sunflower Seed Counting
- Valentine's Day Counting Cards
Download Monster Mats
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