Spring Theme Printable Cooperative Game

This spring theme printable game is a fun way to add a little extra counting practice into your preschool math lesson plans. Featuring ducks at a pond, this game can also be added to a Pond Preschool Theme or Baby Animals Preschool Theme.

*** This post contains a free printable, so be sure to grab it from the end of the post. ***

Teach Cooperation with Spring Theme Printable Game

I am writing this at the beginning of what is now being termed as “Coronapocalypse.”

Grocery stores are like ghost towns. Their shelves are empty except for the few misplaced items that have been discarded in a rush and thrown back on the wrong shelf.

Entire cities have gone into 24-7 lockdown.

Schools have canceled for the foreseeable future, involuntarily thrusting millions of parents into homeschooling.

These are uncharted territories for many of us!

Suddenly being home from school can be difficult for kids, and definitely for parents. I think it is safe to say that everybody’s routine is a bit out of wack as we all work to create new routines and structure at home.

One thing I’ve noticed is my kids fighting more. Initially, I thought it was because our school district had sent an iPad Pro home with every student. We went from a household of two iPads and one MacBook Pro to a household of 1:1 devices, not including my husband’s and my phones.

At first, it was a relief having the extra technology in our home. Knowing only the best educational apps were available on my kids’ school iPads, I didn’t feel so bad about extending their screentime while I doubled the workload on my blog and responded to the needs of my readers. There was less fighting about how much time they all got, about who had more or less time, about who got to play what games. 

It was nice.

And then my kids started begging for even more time. They became very clever in their excuses to convince me to allow them to have even more time. 

And then the fighting started again, but this time it transferred over to other things, like cleaning out the dishwasher, putting away their balance bikes and scooters, and who got their snacks first.

So, this spring theme printable game came out of necessity at my house. It’s a cooperative game, which means that all players work together as a team to win the game. I’ve shared some other cooperative games below.

While my oldest kids are too old to enjoy it, but my youngest three have plenty to learn. (That said, my oldest kids could learn from it too. Ha, ha!)

Spring Theme Printable Cooperative Counting Game for Preschoolers

Amidst all the turmoil in the world right now, a spring themed printable seemed like just the theme to add a little happiness to our days. This printable can be used to supplement your springtime activities, as well as a baby animal theme, bird theme, or pond theme. (That’s a lot of different uses!)

Materials for Printable Cooperative Counting Game for Preschoolers

You just need some basic supplies for this cooperative game, all of which you probably already have at home or in your classroom.

• free printable game
• yellow counters (math counters, pom poms, mini erasers, buttons, etc)
• dice
• game pieces 

I have a stash of game pieces on hand for my Fine Motor Task Boxes, and we like to use them in our playdough recipes, too, but if you don’t have any, you can use just about any small item to be game pieces. Just make sure they all look different.

The Object of the Cooperative Counting Game

It became pretty evident that we needed to spend some time doing things together and working together. That’s what this preschool printable does. All the players work together to win the game. There are no teams. No individual players. Everyone is working toward the exact same goal.

The object of the game is to collect ten ducklings from the game board and return them to their mama duck on the scorecard. Players do this by moving their game pieces onto a space with a duckling, at which point they place a yellow counter on the scorecard to represent that duckling. The game ends when the entire ten frame has been filled with ducklings.

How to Play Duck Pond Cooperative Counting Game

The game is really simple to play, and most of the challenge comes from teaching the players to work together. This can be a big mind-shift for some preschoolers. I recommend walking the players through each step of the first few turns.

• Select a child to roll first. Roll the dice and identify the number.
• Discuss as a group which way to move the game piece. The game piece should be moved so that children can gather a duckling, which is done by landing on a duckling space.
• If the game piece lands on a duckling space, add a pom pom (or other manipulative) to the ten frame on the group scorecard. If the player does not land on a duckling space, he does nothing.
• Play moves to the next child and the steps above are repeated.
• The game ends when the ten frame is filled, meaning that ten ducklings have been gathered and returned to the mother duck.

A Few Notes About How to Play

Here are a few other things to know about how to play this game.

• Each player gets their own game piece to move.
• Players can move their game pieces in any direction around the board.
• There are more ducklings on the board than will be collected. To win the game, only ten ducklings need to be collected.

House Rules that Can be Added to The Game

I love any game with a set of house rules. After your preschoolers get used to playing the traditional way, you can add your own house rules. Here are some ideas for consideration.

1. Allow players to move any game piece in an effort to get a duckling, rather that moving just their own piece.
2. Enforce that players must make a quacking noise any time a duckling is captured and returned to its mother.
3. Use a set of 1-6 number flashcards to work more on number identification.
4. Print a second set of the scorecard and work to capture 20 ducklings.

What house rules would you add to this game?

Grab Your Spring Theme Printable Counting Game Below

Thnk this is something your home or classroom needs right now? Grab your own copy by clicking on the image below.

Then, keep reading for more free spring theme printables for preschoolers!

>>> Don’t forget to grab these other spring theme printables below! <<<

More Free Spring Theme Printables

These are all free printables for spring. Just click the images to get your own copies.

                 

How About Some Printable Spring Theme Centers for Preschoolers?

This spring activity pack is designed to supplement your spring preschool theme. Packed full of uniquely hands-on, printable spring activities, preschoolers love learning about their favorite colorful plants and animals with these spring activities.

This pack contains six fun and educational spring themed activities appropriate for preschool through kindergarten. Three activities are math based, three are literacy based. All are fun. Scroll down for the complete product description to see what’s included!

>>> Spring Activity Pack for Preschoolers <<<