Free Ice Cream Cone Printable for Preschool Math

Introducing a sweet twist to preschool math activities: ice cream cone printables! We’re serving up a scoop of fun with ice cream cone height measurement cards designed to teach preschoolers how to measure using non-standard units of measurement like snap cubes.

Let’s dive into this super fun activity that blends the sweetness of ice cream with the educational benefits of hands-on learning! This is a must-add to your ice cream preschool theme!

Today, we’re excited to introduce a delightful preschool math activity centered around everyone’s favorite summer treat: ice cream!

With our ice cream cone printable and all the activities you can do with them, your preschoolers can enjoy a hands-on experience in measurement and number sequencing, all while indulging in one of the best preschool summer themes.

By using simple items like snap cubes, preschoolers measure the height of ice cream cones printed on paper, and then sequence them by height based on the numbers assigned to each cone.

But these ice cream cone measurement cards are so inviting and fun for a summer theme and they can make up several fun summer learning activities for preschoolers. I love having a fun summer printable like this one, because who doesn’t love having a single educational printable that can actually do the job of several preschool printables?!

You can grab this printable for free, but it is also included in our Summer Activity Number Sequencing Pack, which features 15 individual activities that teach preschoolers all about ordering quantities. This set of preschool math activities will prepare your pre-k students for more rigorous learning in kindergarten.

What is Measurement for Preschoolers?

One of the most important discipline in math is measurement, and it’s something kids are naturally drawn to, just other preschool math skills. Kids are born mathematicians.

Have you ever:

• Heard a child compare their height to someone else’s?
• Cooked with a child following a recipe?
• Been asked by a child about their weight?
• Heard a child describe objects as small, medium, or big?
• Seen a child arrange items in order of size?

These everyday occurrences highlight the essence of preschool measurement lesson plans and activities. Activities like this ice cream cone measurement activity is particularly engaging for preschoolers, especially in the summer.

A Guide to Teaching Measurement to Preschoolers

If you’re looking for some deep information about how to effectively teach measurement skills to preschoolers, then read this post: Ultimate Guide to Teaching Measurement to Preschoolers.

Ice Cream Cone Printable Measurement Cards

Like I already mentioned, you can use this one printable for lots of different activities! I’ll feature one in detail, but read to the end of this post to get all my other ideas on how to use these printable measurement cards.

What’s Included

This ice cream printable is really printer friendly as each page hosts four height measurement cards, totally three pages in all. The pages are full color ice cream as preschoolers are drawn the vibrant colors at in ice cream shop, so who doesn’t want extra colorful scoops of ice cream in a preschool measurement printable?!

Materials

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• Free ice cream measurement cards
• Color matching math counters (optional)

The Set-Up

Print the measurement cards on heavy card stock and laminate if planning to use these more than once. I always laminate because you know what’s worse than having them damaged and unusable? Wanting to use them for a second activity, or use them again for the same activity, and wishing they were laminated.

Place the cards on a tray (we use these food trays) and invite your preschooler to join you in some measurement fun!

How to Use the Cards to Teach Measurement

The most basic form of this activity would be to mix up the cards and then arrange them in smallest to largest or in descending order from largest to smallest. It’s one of the first steps in kids learning how to measure and also teaches preschoolers how to sequence numbers and quantities.

To do this, I always allow a little bit of time for my preschoolers to figure out the order on their own, giving them time to self correct. This is an important step and really helps them develop concepts of measurement.

Often, preschoolers miss out of learning experiences because adults interject too soon. So, it’s ok to sit back and allow them to make a few mistakes. And with ten cards, there are bound to be a few cards in the order that get mixed up.

Once your preschooler has ordered the cards, then you can help your preschool correct any mistakes. I like to start at the smallest number and have the preschooler count the scoops on the card.

Then we compare that card to the one placed next in line. Sometimes we rote count to see if our card fell in the right number order, too. But it’s important to teach your preschoolers to use the line on the side of the card to define the top and the bottom of the ice cream cones.

Which line is the longer? You can even overlap the cards to help your preschooler see the differences in heights. This math skill all helps preschoolers in learning how to properly measure.

If you want to add some additional one-to-one correspondence practice, you can have your preschooler add a math counter to each scoop. Bonus points if the color of the counter matches that of the ice cream scoop itself.

Now, of course you can also use these cards to teach non-standard units of measurement by having your preschooler line up their counters along the line on the side of the card. Count the number of counters used to find the measurement.

This ice cream cone is nine counters high.

My favorite materials for measurement clip cards are snap cubes, mini erasers, and even clothes pins. Any of those options keep the activity interesting for preschoolers as well as work on fine motor development.

These cards are a good way to introduce the concept of measuring height. Preschoolers often use length and height interchangeably, so this is a good way to practice the right vocabulary, and not just refer to the activity as a way to measure the length.

Ice Cream Cone Printable Activities

I love a printable that has multiple uses and can reach different levels of learners. Here are a few ideas for you.

• Use various manipulatives like mini erasers, pom poms, transparent counters, cereal, clothespins, etc.
• Incorporate one-to-one correspondence and color recognition by matching pom poms to ice cream scoop colors.
• Engage preschoolers by having them find objects of similar height to measurement cards in the room.
• Utilize the cards for comparison activities, asking children to identify objects taller or shorter than the ice cream cone.
• Play a version of “War” using multiple copies of the cards to compare heights and reinforce measurement concepts.
• Play a matching game with two sets of cards laid face up.
• Build snap cube towers matching the cards and have children match them accordingly.
• Encourage fine motor skills by having preschoolers cut construction paper to match the height of ice cream cone measurement cards.

Printables for Ice Cream Preschool Theme

Want more ice cream themed preschool activities? Try some of these!

• Ice Cream Preschool Lesson Plans
• Edible Ice Cream Playdough
• Ice Cream Counting Cards
• Ice Cream Emergent Reader
• Ice Cream Letter Sequencing Mats
• Ice Cream Addition
• Counting Ice Cream
• 2D Shapes Playdough Mats
• Letter Match Sensory Bin

Grab your FREE Ice cream cone Measurement Cards Here

Wanna add these ice cream measurement cards to your summer activities for preschool? Click the image below to grab your own copy.

Sarah Punkoney, MAT

I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.

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