Preschool Math Counting Activities for Valentine’s Day
As parents and educators, we’re always on the lookout for engaging and fun ways to incorporate learning into our children’s day. This Valentine’s Day, why not combine this friendship based holiday with some educational fun? We’ve got just the thing for you: preschool math counting activities that are perfect for the season of love and kindness.
Try our adorable Valentine’s Day-themed counting game that is designed specifically to help preschoolers sharpen their counting and addition skills with a cute Valentine animal theme. This game includes a free printable featuring charming Valentine animals and balloons – an exciting visual treat that your little ones will surely enjoy!
You know how we’re always trying to sneak some learning into the kiddos’ day, right? Well, with Valentine’s Day coming up, I’ve created a super fun way to mix in some math lessons with all the love and friendship vibes.
These Valentine animal counting activities are just too cute! It’s designed to help preschoolers improve counting and adding, but in a playful way, using adorable Valentine-themed animals.
Preschoolers select a cute animal counting mat, and then use sets of balloon cards to make up the corresponding number.
This is an example of just the kind of preschool math counting activities used in my Daily Lessons in Addition and Subtraction Unit. They are specifically designed to teach preschoolers addition concepts in bite-sized, manageable chunks.
And of course, we love to add this to our Valentine’s Day Activity Pack, or our Friendship Circle Time Activity Pack.
How to You Teach Preschoolers Numbers and Counting?
The key to teaching preschoolers numbers and counting lies in adopting a systematic approach towards teaching, such as following a structured curriculum like the Daily Lessons in Preschool Math Curriculum.
Why follow a preschool math curriculum, you ask? Here is exactly why:
- A structured offers a systematic and organized approach, ensuring that all essential topics are covered thoroughly.
- This helps in building a strong foundation in math from an early age.
- A structured curriculum can provide consistency and routine, which is comforting for young children and aids in their learning process.
- It also allows for a gradual progression in difficulty level, ensuring that children are not overwhelmed.
- It provides teachers with guidance and clarity, making lesson planning easier and more effective.
- A systematic curriculum includes repetition and reinforcement of concepts, crucial for helping preschoolers retain and understand what they have learned.
In essence, a structured math curriculum for preschoolers promotes comprehensive, consistent, and effective learning. And it can be super fun, too! A preschool math curriculum can be both structured and playful, which is how preschooler learn best.
teaching preschoolers numbers and counting involves a balance of structured learning, consistent practice, and nurturing support. Following a systematic curriculum like the Daily Lessons in Preschool Math Curriculum can provide a roadmap for this journey, ensuring that each step is thoughtfully planned and executed for optimal learning.
If you’re wondering about what is really offered in our curriculum, you can get a full week preschool math curriculum sample for free!
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Product on sale*** Daily Lessons in Preschool Mathematics CurriculumOriginal price was: $135.00.$99.00Current price is: $99.00.
Valentine Animal Preschool Math Counting Activities
This Valentine’s Day, learning can be made fun with a themed counting game designed for preschoolers.
The activity, which is a free printable featuring Valentine animals and balloons, improves children’s counting and addition skills. It presents these important concepts in a playful, Valentine themed manner that aligns perfectly with the season of friendship and kindness.
What’s Included
This freebie include seven full color pages of counting and addition fun. It includes numbers 1-10, each counting mat featuring a cute, huggable and snugglable furry animal dressed in it’s best Valentine’s Day sweater.
There are also three pages of balloon cards that go along with the activity. The balloon cards feature sets of 1, 2, and 3 balloons. This way, preschoolers work on counting skills while learning basic addition, too!
How to Make this Counting Activity for Preschoolers?
No need to make this from scratch! You can download a free copy at the end of the post.
The set-up is simple. Print the activity in color on heavy cardstock, and laminate for added durability.
Cut apart the animal counting mats and place in a pile, and then cut apart them cut apart the balloon cards, placing in like stacks.
Now, invite your little one to join you in having some preschool math counting fun!
Additional Supplies
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small sum if you click through and make a purchase.
This activity doesn’t ‘require’ an additional activities, however, with just a few Valentine themed counting manipulatives, you can extend the activity for additional counting practice. Here are some of our favorites:
- Material: acrylic
- Quantity:60 pcs in each color, 120 in total，large quantity to meet your daily needs
- Color: two colors,pink and red, to meet your different needs
- LARGE QUANTITY: You will receive totally 200pcs colorful wooden heart buttons with 2 small holes,…
- RELIABLE MATERIAL: These heart shape buttons are made of quality natural wood, durable and with…
- SUITABLE SIZE: Each heart shape wooden button measures about 18 x 18 mm, 2.5 mm in thickness, hole:…
- Size: About 1″ (22 mm），the ice rock gem look great for any events and table scatters
- Material: Plastic Acrylic,endless finishing.
- Or use for: Arts & Crafts, Table scatters and vases fillers.
- Material:Resin
- Size:14mm
- Color:Multi-color
Valentine Counting Activities for Preschool
The aim of the game is for the children to identify the number on the animal card and then count the correct number of balloons for the total. But the balloon cards only feature quantities of 1-3, so preschoolers have to continue adding balloon cards until the total is added together.
This activity is an excellent way for kids to practice number recognition, counting, and basic addition all rolled into one!
Practice One to One Correspondence
At its most simple, these counting mats can be used for teaching one to one correspondence. Each card has the numeral and the number word at the top. On the bottom of the card is a row of roses meeting the quantity of the numeral.
This feature can be used to reinforce one to one correspondence. It can also be used as a method of self checking.
Practice Counting On
It’s simple to sue these number mats for practicing one to one correspondence by linking up manipulative to match the number of roses on the card.
But let’s take this one step further and make it a little more difficult. Invite your preschooler to use the balloon cards to make the number quantity. The cards have balloons in sets of one, two, and three, so your preschooler can practice counting on.
In the example below, the one balloon was selected, and then a cards with two and three balloons were added on.
Teach Addition to Preschoolers
Another way to use these preschool math counting mats is to use them for teaching preschoolers addition. Depending on the number sense knowledge of your preschooler, you can encourage your preschooler to use a variety of balloon cards to add together to get to the quantity of the number mat.
Preschoolers can even use the same number mat to find as many combinations as possible for adding up to the quantity of ten.
This Valentine math for preschoolers is not only a great tool for learning, but it also lets the kids enjoy Valentine’s Day in an educational way.
Say goodbye to the traditional classroom drills and hello to these playful preschool math counting activities! Your little ones will be having so much fun, they won’t even realize they’re learning.
More Preschool Math Activities for Valentine’s Day
These Valentine Animal Counting and Addition Mats are filled with learning fun, but in case you need it, here are some more Valentine math activities to add to your preschool lesson plans.
- Valentine Ten Frame Counting Cards
- Heart Measurement Cards
- Valentine Counting Puzzles
- Heart Pattern Block Mats
- Emotions Grid Games
- Valentine Roll and Cover
- Feed the Robot Valentine’s Ten Frame Game
- Valentine Count the Room
- Layered Hearts Size Order Craft
- Heart Tangram Activity
- Valentine’s Graphing Game
Get Your Valentine Animal Counting and Addition Mats Here
Who can resist these cute and cuddly Valentine animals?! Your preschoolers will adore them, and learn so much, too! Get yours below.
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.