Ice Cream Activities for Preschool Counting

Are you on lookout for some ice cream activities for preschoolers? One of the best things about summer is the sudden appreciation for ice cream cones and popsicles. These ice cream theme counting cards are a fun way to help your preschooler learn all sorts of important number sense skills, like number identification, one to one correspondence, and number sequencing.

Add these ice cream cone counting cards to your preschool summer lesson plans and watch your little ones have a blast learning during summer preschool!

These delicious counting cards will have your preschoolers begging for more counting activities. They are life size which makes them all the more fun, and you can’t beat using chocolate chips for a counting manipulative. When it comes to summer counting activities, these are always a hit!

These counting cards are free! They are also a part of our summer themed Number Order Activity Pack. These fifteen number order activities feature a range of summer based themes, making learning counting and number skills even more fun for your preschoolers.

Number Activities for Preschool

When choosing out number activities for preschool, it’s important to find fun, engaging, and hands-on activities that are developmentally appropriate. Preschoolers need repetition of skills that is presented in different ways. Here are some other preschool math activities for summer time.

Ocean Theme Roll & Cover Counting Cards

Studying the ocean is a must during the summer time! This ocean animal roll and cover is just one of many counting activities that I might include during our summer learning. Preschoolers practice subitizing, counting, and transferring all in one!

Lemonade More and Less Math Activity

Want a fun and simple way to teach basic math to your preschoolers? Try our strawberry lemonade-themed counting mats! Your little ones will love them, and they’re perfect for your summer lesson plans.

Summer Theme Pattern Blocks Mats

Who wouldn’t love to celebrate summer with these free summer pattern blocks printable mats? Not only do they develop skills in math, but also writing and letter knowledge, too!

Why Number Activities Are Important in Preschool

Research indicates that children gain a deeper comprehension of numbers with increased experience in counting. So, exposing your child to frequent opportunities to count various objects can improve their understanding of numerical concepts.

Counting exercises a regular activity to assist with your child’s mathematical development. Number recognition, quantification and number order hold equal importance to number sense development.

Ice Cream Cone Activities Using Ice Cream Number Cards

Everyone has a fondness for ice cream, right? Well, let me tell you – every preschooler will have a fondness for these ice cream counting cards, too!

What’s Included

The free download comes with counting cards 1-10. The cards fit three to a page, making them life size and big enough for preschoolers to handle with ease.

Additional Materials Needed

Our favorite counting manipulative to use with these cards are chocolate chips. If you prefer not to use something melty or edible, try some of these cheap alternatives:

• brown buttons
• small pebbles
• dry black beans

Remember, these counting cards are free, and a part of our summer themed Number Order Activity Pack. These fifteen number order activities feature a range of summer based themes.

Ice Cream Cone Math Activities for Preschoolers

These ice cream cone counting cards are perfect for all sorts of preschool number activities. Learning numbers, counting, ordering numbers and learning about more and less concepts are important in preschool, and these cards can do all those things. 

Counting Ice Cream Cones

The first way to use these since cream theme counting cards is by using them as traditional counting cards.

• Draw a card from the pile and identify the number at the top.
  • If your preschooler does not know the number, then say the number and have your preschooler repeat it back to you.
• Count the number of chocolate chips on the ice cream cone.
  • Do this first by pointing to each chocolate chip as the number said, reinforcing one to one correspondence.
• Then, have your preschooler count again by placing a real chocolate chip on top of each one, counting again while doing so.

Practice Number Order

Since these cards feature numbers 1-10, you can also have your preschooler put them in order! This is good work for a preschooler.

• Set out the cards in random order and ask your preschooler to find the cards with one on it.
• Place it at the beginning of a line.
• Repeat with the rest of the numbers.
  • If your preschooler isn’t confident in numbers 1-10, then start with 1-5.

Tip for Teaching Number Order

If your preschooler struggles to find all the numbers in the correct order, try some of these tips.

• Offer two ice cream cones and have your preschooler choose between the two for which one comes next.
• Use visuals like a number line.
• Use manipulatives in a line to compare what “one more” looks like.

What Comes Next? Preschool Number Activity

This is another fun math activity that helps preschoolers understand number order.

• Take the counting cards from the activity above, all lined up nicely from 1-10 and have your preschooler count each number in order with you as you point to each card.
• Flip over two cards so they are face down on the table.
• Then, have your preschooler point to each card and read the numbers again.
  • When your preschooler stops at the cards that have been flipped over, ask him what number he thinks the card is and why. If he cannot verbalize his reasoning, then help him articulate it.

Practice Counting On

Counting on is an important skill for preschoolers because it helps solidify number sense skills needed for learning addition and subtraction.

• Have your preschooler order the cards from 1-10, and then stack them up, face down, so that number one is on top.
• Draw the first card (it should be one) and identify the number.
  • At this point, you can also have her count the chocolate chips on the card and add the corresponding number of real chocolate chips.
• Ask your preschooler to say the number one more time, and then ask, “What comes next?”
• Repeat this until all the cards have been drawn and placed on the table.

If you have an advanced preschooler or a kinder student, you can also ask, “What is two more?” Your student would then count on in her head and then draw two cards to check her answer.

Remember, the idea here is to teach your preschooler to count on from the last number, not to recount all the numbers previously drawn. So, if she just drew the number three, then when counting on she would say, “three, four,” rather than starting over at one.

More or Less? Comparing Numbers

This number activity helps preschoolers solidify their number sense skills by learning about more and less concepts. Of course, these concepts are the beginnings of addition and subtraction.

• Draw a number card from the pile, identify the number, and add the corresponding number of chocolate chips to the ice cream cone.
• Draw a second card and ask, “It is more or less?”
  • Have your preschooler do the same as the first card. Identify the number and add the corresponding number of chocolate chips, and then answer.

If your preschooler struggles to “see” if the quantity is more or less, then have him take the chocolate chips from the cards and line them up in rows. Then, compare the two lines.

Try Our Number Order Activity Pack

These cards are also a part of our summer themed Number Order Activity Pack. These fifteen number order activities feature a range of summer based themes, making learning counting and number skills even more fun for your preschoolers.

Preschool Ice Cream Activities

If you like these counting cards, you’re sure to love these other preschool ice cream activities, too!

• Ice Cream Missing Letter Mats
• Sponge Painted Ice Cream Craft
• Ice Cream Cone Measurement Cards
• Ice Cream Beginning Sounds
• Ice Cream Preschool Activity Plans

Grab Your FREE Ice Cream Cone Activity Cards Here

Think you want to try out these counting cards with your own preschooler? Just click the image below and a pdf will be sent to your email.