Free Bumble Bee Counting Cards for Preschool Math
Bee counting activities for preschool math bring a fun, hands-on way to explore numbers and counting skills to your spring preschool lesson plans. Little ones love anything themed, and a bee theme makes preschool math activities even more exciting. Add a little playdough, and you’ve got a math activity that is guaranteed to be a huge hit!
Counting is a fundamental skill, and preschoolers love having a variety of ways to practice, which is why these insect math activities for preschool are so fun! Be sure to read all the ways we use these bumble bee counting cards to teach early math skills.
Buzz, buzz! If there’s one thing preschoolers love, it’s hands-on learning—and bee counting activities for preschool math make number practice even more exciting. With these adorable counting cards, little learners can match numbers to the correct quantity of bees, using fun manipulatives like mini bee erasers, playdough, or even honeycomb-shaped tiles.
The best part? These printable counting cards can be used in so many different ways. Kids can place the correct number of bees on each card, press them into playdough to make “bee prints,” or stack them onto honeycomb tiles for a fun counting challenge. Whether you’re focusing on one-to-one correspondence, number recognition, or early addition, these activities help kids build math confidence in a way that feels like play.
Plus, they’re easy to set up and perfect for small groups, math centers, or even quiet time activities. I’ve even used them for morning task boxes. No matter how you use them, these bee-themed counting cards will have your little learners buzzing with excitement for math time!
Just download and print these counting cards and read about all the different insect math activities for preschool you can do with them.
Read this: Bumble Bee Preschool Lesson Plans.
Free Bumble Bee Playdough Counting Activity
The basic idea with this activity is that kids practice counting out the bumble bees by placing them on the cards and then transferring them to a “garden” of playdough. This provides lots of extra learning fun!
They could also use flower manipulatives and count out a flower for each of the bumble bees. This is a great way to work on one-to-one correspondence.
What’s Included
This free printable includes a set of bee-themed counting cards featuring numbers 1–10. Each card displays a large, easy-to-read number alongside a corresponding group of adorable bees, helping preschoolers practice number recognition and counting skills.
These cards can be used with small manipulatives like bee erasers, playdough, or honeycomb tiles for a hands-on math experience. Perfect for math centers, small groups, or independent practice, this printable makes learning to count both fun and engaging!
Materials
- bumble bee erasers or acrylic flower table scatter (or pompoms or buttons)
- playdough
- FREE Bumble Bee Counting Cards
The Set-Up
Start by making the playdough. My go-to recipe is this no-cook playdough that doesn’t call for cream of tartar. Just add some green food coloring to make it a lush garden green. Or you can use yellow playdough for pollen and honey.
Set the bumble bee counting cards out with a dish of acrylic flowers or bumble bee erasers and the playdough. (I love these white melamine bowls because they’re basically indestructible). Then invite your preschoolers to have some fun with the buzzing bees.
The Bumble Bee Counting Activity
Here’s how to use the bumble bee counting cards.
- Draw a card from the pile and identify the number.
- Place your chosen manipulative on each bumble bee picture on the card while counting at the same time.
- Then transfer the bumble bees or flowers from the bumble bee counting card into the “flower garden” (playdough), and count again.
Remember, these are a free spring printable, so be sure to download your copy at the end of this post!
My little boy was really excited to do this activity. He’s been working on his counting skills and number recognition for a while now, so this was the perfect activity for him to gain more practice this spring. Plus he loves playing with playdough, which is great for fine motor skills!
If you choose to use playdough with these spring counting cards, then you can either make one giant pancake and just squish the bee erasers into the playdough and count again, or you can make an equal number of playdough mounds and get in even more counting practice.
Bonus points if you make the mounds look like flowers by using a cookie cutter!
You could use hexagon pattern blocks, too! This is really fun because they already look like they go with any preschool bee activity, and if they are placed together they look like a honeycomb!
Just like in real life, each bee has its own hexagon beeswax cell to care for. You can even turn this into an addition game by simply adding on to the honeycomb shape you’ve already started!
Picture Books About Bumble Bees
I love adding excellent picture books to any theme we study in preschool. And when it comes to teaching preschoolers about bumble bees, I find them particularly helpful. Here’s a book list of our favorite picture books about bees.
- Breaux, Penny (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 27 Pages – 11/10/2024 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
- Marshall, Natalie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 10 Pages – 03/07/2019 (Publication Date) – Scholastic (Publisher)
- Brownlow, Anne (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 28 Pages – 03/22/2024 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
- Blackshear, Gwendolyn (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 30 Pages – 08/06/2016 (Publication Date) – CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher)
Bee Counting Activities for Preschool Math Activities
Can you believe there are even more ways to use these counting cards?!
Everyone loves a free printable, but the best thing about these spring counting cards is the variety of activities you can use them for. Here are some activities for preschoolers to help you teach a range of levels:
- For older students, challenge them by asking them to identify the number first and then count the correct number on the table before matching to the bumble bees on the card. This demonstrates how strong their number sense skills are.
- For average students, invite them to sequence the cards in numerical order and start the activity with smaller number cards first. Choosing the most manageable numbers first helps preschoolers feel successful.
- For younger students, invite them to first count the bumble bees on the card by pointing to each one, helping solidify one-to-one correspondence. Then show them how to add a single bumble bee or flower to each bumble bee picture on the card, and then help them transfer the bees or flowers to the playdough. Each step here increases in difficulty in teaching one-to-one correspondence.
- For handwriting practice, you can laminate the cards so students can practice tracing the numbers using a dry erase marker. This is an excellent way for preschoolers to practice writing numbers.
Bee Themed Counters
It’s fun to go all-out (although not necessary). If you’re looking for some bumble bee manipulatives and toys to add to your bee preschool theme, you might try some of these.
- [Package] Package comes with 25 pieces 14mm/0.55inch, 10 pieces 19mm/0.75inch, 5 pieces…
- [Easy to Use] You can easily stick them on the wall, picture frames, cards, buttons, mirror and…
- [Cute Design] The resin bees are 14mm/0.55inch, 19mm/0.75inch, 25mm/0.98inch in size. They are tiny…
Get Your Bumble Bee Counting Cards Here
Think you could use these counting cards in your math center this spring? Just click the image below and grab your copy! Then, take a look at even more spring activities below.
Printable Spring and Insect Themed Centers
Springtime can be so special to preschoolers if you have the right kinds of preschool activities to add to your spring centers. Here are some printable preschool resources I’m using right now.
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Spring Emergent Readers$3.00 -
Product on saleSpring Preschool CentersOriginal price was: $8.00.$4.00Current price is: $4.00. -
Product on saleInsect Preschool CentersOriginal price was: $8.00.$4.00Current price is: $4.00. -
Insect Emergent Readers$3.00 -
Spring Activity Pack$5.00 -
Insects Activity Pack$5.00
FAQ About Teaching Preschoolers About Bees
Bees are an important part of our ecosystems because they pollinate plants and create food that we can eat. Bees don’t just make honey; they pollinate plants and they’re critical to helping plants grow into foods we can eat. In fact, bees help provide about 1/3 of the foods we eat.
There are loads of hands-on and play-based activities you can do with your preschooler to teach them about bees. Try encouraging your preschooler to pretend to be a bee. Do lots of letter Bb activities and letter Bb crafts. Don’t forget to include lots of insect math activities for preschool, too. And of course, read books about bees!
Bees pack nectar into their beeswax honey cells (the little hexagon-shaped cells). The bees then flap their wings to dry out the nectar. You can read more about it here:
>>> How Bees Make Honey <<<
You Might Also Like These Videos About Bumble Bees
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.
