Preschool Counting Activity (Bean Counting)

This preschool counting activity is an easy at home preschool idea that teaches counting without turning on screens to find online preschool math games. Practicing the act of counting is very important at this age, because the "more experience children have with counting, the more they will learn the meaning of numbers."

My son loved this counting activity and all you need is a few simple materials you already have at home! The activity also teaches the concept of quantity, which is an important pre-math skill.

As a bonus, this preschool math activity is almost effortless to set up and uses math manipulatives that help develop a child's fine motor skills.

What You Need

A large piece of paper, such as from a roll of butcher paper.

Marker

A jar full of dry beans. Other manipulatives like buttons or coins would also work.

• Be sure to only choose items you know your child will not put in their mouth. My son never puts non-food items in his mouth, but your child may have different behavior patterns.

Activity Preparation

Lay the paper on a large surface. We used the floor, but a table is fine.

Draw at least six circles and write a number (1-6) in each circle. You can increase the number of circles as your child demonstrates interest.

Place a bowl or jar of beans next to the paper and instruct your child to place an amount of beans in each circle that corresponds to the number within it.

For example, one bean goes in circle 1, 2 beans go in circle 2, and so on.

How the Activity Went for Us

First, I drew six circles. I didn't care if they were perfect or in a straight line or any of that. The important part for us was to get to the counting part as quickly as possible.

I asked my son for a few numbers and he choose 1-6 (he's very organized). Then I explained he could put the same number of beans in the circle as the number within it. He got extremely excited at this idea. Could. Not. Wait. (He loves numbers!)

After he finished counting out and placing the beans, I drew more circles and labelled them 7-12. He loved this activity so much that we probably could have gone even higher.