FREE Rainbow Train Preschool Counting Game

If you have a train fanatic in your house or preschool you need this preschool counting game. It teaches counting and color recognition, as well as basic graphing. You can grab your own FREE printable of this game at the end of this post!

***I’m paring up with some of the best kid bloggers to bring you a bunch of rainbow activities that can fit all tidy in a quiet bin, so be sure to scroll to the end of the post to catch them all!***

With five kids, I always feel like we have a ton of toys. A ton! When I calm down enough from the constant messes, I don’t think we have too many. But sometimes the mess of five kids playing (and forgetting to put their toys away) is overwhelming.

You know the feeling.

I  do rotate toys, but in addition to that, I have another trick I use to keep the toys at bay.

Ready for it?

I seldom buy new sets of toys anymore. When birthdays and holidays roll around, I purchase toys that add to the sets we already have.

(If you’re a freak about messes, like I can be, you might like these mess-free preschool activities!)

Now, I have two little boys who will play trains all day long. All day. Even my oldest, who is eight years old still loves to play trains with his little brothers. And my daughter loves to play trains because she is artistic and sees designing train tracks as artwork.

I’m not sure what this year’s hottest toy is on the market, because I’m busy adding to our train set. We have lots of different tunnels and bridges. We have wooden tree accessories and street signs. We have hills and lots of risers.

And…now we have printable train games like this one! Don’t forget to grab your copy at the end of this post.

And if you want more fun games, you should check out this download!

Rainbow Train Preschool Counting Game

My little train fanatics had so much fun with this game. We played it a few times right in a row, but finally had to clean up and my four year old said, “Can we leave it out so we can play with the whole family?”

Absolutely! Even though it’s a preschool counting game, older train fans are sure to love it, too.

This train game teaches color recognition, counting skills, and even a little graphing, as well as taking turns and following rules.

And, might I add that this is a perfect game to play for St. Patrick’s Day!

Materials

• FREE printable (at the end of this post)
• game pieces
• homemade die (numerals 1-3)
• rainbow color buttons

The Set-Up

Print and laminate the train printable. Cut the train tracks along the black lines, and assemble in order to make one very, very long train track. (This was fascinating to my boys since the track ended up being about four feet long!…Super cool if you’re four years old!)

Give each player a graphing scorecard and a game piece.

How to Play Rainbow Train Counting Game

Because this game teaches the colors of the rainbow, it was great our St. Patrick’s Day party, too!

Play is simple and straight-forward. This is not a game where there is a real winner. Rather, players work to collect buttons for their “train”.

1. Select a player to go first. Roll the die and move the game piece the corresponding number of train tracks.
2. Identify the color of the train track and find a matching colored button.
3. Add the button to the corresponding column on the graphing score sheet.
4. Continue play until all payers have reached the end of the track.
5. Count how many of each color was collected.

Don’t forget to grab your FREE printable Rainbow Train Game at the end of this post!

I like to use a 1-3 die for this game for a couple of reasons. This game is excellent practice for learning one to one correspondence skills, so a 1-3 die works nicely, especially for young preschoolers who are just learning.

Since one to one correspondence is one of the most important math skills a preschooler learns, a 1-3 die is great reinforcement! Plus, a die with smaller numerals makes the game last a little longer, which means that the children get to spend more time working on their graphing skills!

You might also like these math games!

Want More Color Activities

I’ve paired up with some amazing kid bloggers to bring you 15 brand new ideas!

Don’t forget to grab your FREE printable Rainbow Train Game at the end of this post!

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:

Color Word Match It! // The Primary Post

Color Puzzles // A Dab of Glue Will Do

Coloring Sheets // Playdough to Plato

Color Safari // Literacy with the Littles

Color Hunt Around the Room // Mrs. Jones’ Creation Station

Walking Water Rainbow // The STEM Laboratory

Color Games // Fairy Poppins

Add, Color and Build Flowers // Happy Days in First Grade

Rainbow Train Color Graphing Game // Stay at Home Educator

Color Mixing Jars with Mouse Paint Book // Powerful Mothering

Color Matching Fish // Teach Me Mommy

Matching Colors and Numbers // Liz’s Early Learning Spot

Exploding Paint Bombs STEAM Activity // Schooling a Monkey

Color Sorting Mats // Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten

Learning Colors Memory Game // Sara J Creations

Get Your FREE Rainbow Train Counting Game

Think this is something your preschooler will adore? (Just trust me, the answer is yes). You can get your own copy by clicking the picture below. Do you have a favorite preschool counting game the kids love?

Want More Printable Games and Activities?

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Click on the images below for more details.