Making Space for Preschool Math Centers
- Magnetic whiteboard: Great to use to show number lines, anchor charts, or tallies using a dry erase marker.
- Fold-down tabletop: Comes in a size that is just right to young children and makes it accessible and comfortable to little learners.
- Four shelves of storage: These shelves are placed on the rear and help in organizing and storing manipulatives and materials, as it is partly easy to change the activity, as a result.
- Two preschool sized stools: Practice sitting students on low stools so they can talk to the materials.
Setting Up Engaging Preschool Math Centers
Beehive Counting Game
Supplies Needed:
Using:
Children roll the dice, then use tongs to count and place the matching number of bees into the honeycomb tray. Play as a solo challenge or with a partner for a simple math game.
Gingerbread Counting Puzzles
Supplies Needed:
Using:
Pumpkin Counting Mats
Supplies Needed:
How to use:
Invite children to pick a mat, identify the number, and place the matching number of pumpkin counters onto the circles. Additionally, students can match the visual representation cards to each mat. Fine motor coordination, number recognition, and counting are supported by this activity.
Transportation Patterns
Supplies Needed:
Using:
Pattern Block Creations
Supplies Needed:
Usage:
Gingerbread Matching
Supplies Needed:
- Gingerbread people matching cards and manipulatives
- Tray for organizing the cards
Use:
Count & Clip Cards
Supplies Needed:
How to use:
Set out cards showing groups of objects and numbers below.
Picture Domino Game
Supplies Needed:
The way of use:
Shape Sorting
Supplies Needed:
Using:
Children select a shape and place it onto the matching colored post on the wooden stand. Each post holds one shape type, and children sort by both color and shape. Invite students to draw a number card and stack that many shapes onto a post, practicing counting, sorting, and matching all at once.
Fruit Pie Game
Supplies Needed:
Using:
Heart Bead Counting
Supplies Needed:
- Laminated heart cut-outs with numbers
- Pipe cleaners
- Small bowl of pony beads
- Number tracing worksheet (optional extension activity)
Using:
Burger Stacking Game
Supplies Needed:
How to Use:
Children spin the spinner to select burger ingredients and stack them to build a custom burger. Order cards provide specific combinations for students to match, encouraging following directions, sequencing, and counting layers.
Sand Tray Number Writing
Supplies Needed:
- Shallow trays filled with sand or salt
- Foam dice
- Number cards
- Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews (optional extension)
Mr. Potato Head Game
Supplies Needed:
- Potato Head toys (with assorted parts)
- Foam dies with features glued to each side or a custom spinner
- Small trays for organizing parts
How to Apply:
Children take turns rolling the die and adding the matching part (eyes, nose, arms, etc.) to their Potato Head. The game continues until all parts are added. This playful center promotes counting, turn-taking, and body part identification, while building fine motor skills.
Number Identification with Number Mats
Supplies Needed:
- Laminated number counting mats
- Small counters (mini erasers or plastic chips)
- Containers for organizing counters
How to Apply:
Children choose a mat and place one counter in each circle, reinforcing one-to-one correspondence and number recognition. This activity can be adapted for various numbers and is ideal for independent or small group work.
Spider Shape Tracing
Supplies Needed:
How to Apply:
Make Numbers with Geoboards
Supplies Needed:
- Geoboards with rubber bands
- Number cards
- Small tray for organizing rubber bands
- Dooby Dooby Moo by Doren Cronin and Sheep 101 by Richard T. Morris (optional literacy extension)
- How to Apply:
- Students are given an opportunity to choose a number card and to apply rubber bands to form the shape of the number on a geoboard. This is also a fine motor activity and an exercise in visualmotor integration and number formation. Practice asking the students to tell you the number as they construct it and ask them to compare their geoboard with the model card.
Build a Shape
Supplies Needed:
- Colored craft sticks
- Velcro dots
- Shape cards
- Tracing pages (optional extension)
How to apply:
Children select a shape card, then use craft sticks to build that shape on the table. The Velcro dots help hold the sticks together, making it easier to form shapes. It is also possible to leave the children to trace shapes on the mats as additional practice. This exercise builds spatial awareness, recognition of shapes, and fine motor.
Pattern Building with Snap Cubes
Supplies Needed:
How to apply:
Children select a pattern card and use snap cubes to recreate the pattern shown. As skills grow, they can try creating their own patterns or extend those provided on the cards. This activity builds early algebraic thinking, color recognition, and fine motor strength.
Themed-Counting Trays
Supplies Needed:
- Shallow trays (these trays were found at the Dollar Spot in Target)
- Green or blue play sand
- Laminated number cards
- Mini-erasers
- Wooden stick or pencil
How to Use
Children select a number card, then use earth counters to show the matching quantity in the tray. The tactile experience of arranging the counters on the sand supports one-to-one correspondence and number recognition. For added challenge, children can use the stick to draw the number in the sand.
Ready to Try New Preschool Math Centers?
