Getting Ready

To prep the activity, I printed all of the pages on cardstock and laminated them for durability.

Then I cut out each card and put them in a pile.

I also gathered the extra supplies students would need to complete the cards: dry erase markers and building manipulatives. I used playdough and mini erasers for students to build each number, but you could also use LEGOS, unifix cubes or pom poms!

Apple Tree Counting Cards

The first time through, I used the cards with a small group of students at my teacher table so I could easily check for understanding.

Working our way around the table, students took turns picking a card from the pile.

The first child chose the number four. She counted the apples in the tree.

Then she used mini erasers to build the number 4.

Next, she practiced writing the number using a dry erase marker.

When she finished, she cleaned off her card, and put it back in the pile for the next person!

A few days later, we pulled out the cards again! This time we practiced using the cards with squishy playdough (always a kid favorite!).

Students loved getting to make playdough balls to show each number on their cards and I loved that they were getting extra number practice!

Grab Your Download

Ready to try these fun counting cards with your students? Scroll below and click on the blue download button to grab your freebie!

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They’re perfect to use as a preschool or early kindergarten math center or story follow-up activity!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Getting Ready

To prep, I printed the clip cards on cardstock to give them extra durability and make the colors pop. I cut along the bold black lines to separate the pieces and grabbed our bag of medium sized clothespins.

I wanted the activity to be self-check for Middle Brother so that he could work on the activity independently during quiet time. I clipped each card in the correct spot. Then, I turned the pile upside down to mark the answers with a crayon dot on the back side of every card. Now Middle Brother would be able to clip his answer and then flip over the card to see if he was correct.

Note: If you’ll be using the activity in a classroom, you may also want to laminate the cards to make them hefty enough for reuse.

Viola! The activity was ready.

Solving the Clip Cards

Middle Brother knew just what to do. He shuffled the cards and placed them in a stack. Then, he grabbed the top card in the pile and counted the number of pickles.

“Five!” he called out as he grabbed one of the clothespins and clipped the 5 to match.

One card after another, he clipped his way through the stack, flipping his cards over to check his answers when he was finished.

Grab Your Set

Ready to download your batch of Very Hungry Caterpillar Clip Cards?! Click the blue button below!

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Children will love solving the challenge cards and then coloring the pattern. They can even stretch their brains and create their own counting bear patterns for friends to solve when they’re finished!

Snag your set below and then hop over and join The Plato Pack to get a mega pack of pattern activities your students will beg to repeat!

Getting Ready

To prep the activity, I simply printed the pattern cards (below) on card stock to make them durable and cut along the grey lines to separate them into strips.

Although I decided not to laminate the set this time around, I would recommend doing that if you’ll be using the cards in a classroom. Laminating adds an extra layer of durability.

Solving the Pattern Cards

Little Sister (age 3) had just finished using our counting bears to practice the numbers 1 to 12, so she was eager to pull them out again for another math challenge.

She grabbed the first strip in the pile and read the colors out loud:

“Red – blue – yellow – red – blue…”

When she got to the empty box she immediately recognized the next color in the sequence.

She grabbed a yellow bear and placed it in the square.

Then she started at the beginning of the pattern card and read through the sequence again, adding the missing red bear at the end.

With her pattern now complete, I handed her the record sheet and challenged her to color the same pattern with crayons.

Little Sister happily colored the first line and then grabbed the next card in the batch – a fun AB pattern.

Snag Your Set

Click the blue download button below to jump into pattern practice and then hop over and join The Plato Pack to get a mega pack of pattern activities your students will beg to repeat!

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Snag your set below and then hop over and grab the jam-packed Winter Activity Pack in our shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers. It’s bursting with playful and hands-on math and literacy centers your kids will LOVE.

Getting Ready

This fun counting game is fairly quick to prep and hardly uses any printer ink!

I printed one set of the snowflake cards (you may want to print more depending on how many kids will be playing) and ran them through the laminator to make them durable enough for easy reuse.

Then I ran off one copy of the recording sheet for each student along with a few extras since kids often want to play the games more than once. Extra practice is always fine by me!

Snowflake Counting Game

This game was a fun addition to our math centers and was instantly a hit. Students were excited to settle in and get ready to count up some snowflakes!

First, we picked up a card and counted the snowflakes on it. Some kids were able to subitize the amount (recognize how many instantly without counting), while others needed to count one-by-one. Either way, we were making great progress.

Once we figured out how many snowflakes were on the card, we searched for the matching number on a mitten. (When it snows, we need our mittens!)

We counted 1, 2, 3 snowflakes, so we searched, found, and colored the mitten with the number 3 written on it.

Then, we picked up our next card, counted the snowflakes, and colored the matching mitten on our recording sheet: a two!

We continued flipping, counting, and coloring until our sheet was complete.

Grab Your Download

Ready to play this fun winter math game with your own kids?  Snag your set below and then hop over and grab the jam-packed Winter Activity Pack in our shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers. It’s bursting with playful, hands-on math and literacy centers your kids will LOVE.

The post Snowflake Counting Game appeared first on The Stem Laboratory.

Grab your copy below and get ready for some out of this world fun! (Pun intended.)

Getting Ready

To prep, I printed the clip cards (below) on cardstock to give them extra durability and make the colors really pop. Then, I cut along the bold black lines to separate the pieces and grabbed a handful of medium-sized clothespins.

I clipped the correct number on each card and flipped it over to mark the spot with a small crayon dot so the boys could easily self-check their answers later.

Note: If you’ll be using the cards in a classroom, you may also want to laminate for extra durability.

Counting Clip Cards

My boys and I have been talking a lot about the planets and sun, but they’re less accustomed to seeing pictures of each of them.

We started the activity by studying every picture and talking about what we noticed. For instance, Uranus’ rings spin on their side so it rolls like a barrel instead of a top and the dirt on Mars makes it a brilliant red color.

Next, I challenged Middle Brother (age 4.5) to grab the card showing the fewest number of objects. He quickly reached for Uranus and clipped the one to show it was just a single planet.

One card after another, he and Big Brother (age 6) counted and clipped the right spots.

And when they were through, they flipped over the cards to check their answers.

Grab Your Set

Ready to play?! Click the blue button below to grab your outer space counting clip cards and then hop over and pick up our Outer Space Activity Pack!

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Pot of Gold Count and Clip Cards

Prepping these cards took hardly any time at all!

First, I printed out the cards and laminated them for extra durability.

After cutting them apart, I placed them in a basket with some clothespins for a fun, hands-on math center.

Since there are options for both ten frames and twenty frames, you can choose which cards you want to work on with your students based on their needs. Or rather, for an extra challenge, they can work on all numbers 1-20!

I worked with two different groups of students.

In the first group, we worked on subitizing sets in ten frames (recognizing quantities instantly without counting).

We practiced picking up a card and seeing if we knew how many pots of gold were there just by “seeing” the ten frame total instead of having to count by ones.

We checked our answers if needed for accuracy, and then clipped the total.

With another group, we were working on those “tricky teens.”  We focused on the fact that teen numbers are made up of “ten and some more.”

So, when we picked up a twenty frame card, rather than start counting from one, we worked on starting from 10 and counting on.

Then we identified the teen number, focusing on the place value and how teen numbers are written.  Then, we clipped it!

With both groups, we kept counting and clipping until each card had been solved.

If you wish to make the cards self-checking for kids to work independently and check their answers, you could print on cardstock so that the cards aren’t see through. Then, mark the answer with a dot or a small sticker on the back.

Grab Your Set

Ready to count up some gold? Grab some clothespins and then download these fun pot of gold count and clip cards by clicking the button below. You’ll love our St. Patrick’s Day number puzzles, too!

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Getting Ready

Clip cards are some of my favorite activities because they are so simple to prep!

I just printed out the few pages of cards, laminated them to keep them sturdy and reusable, and then added a small basket of clothespins.

That’s it! I had my math center ready to go.

Gumdrop Count and Clip Cards

When I introduce new math centers to my students, I typically play them with small groups first.

However, since my kids are so familiar with clip cards, I was able to introduce this activity whole group and let them give it a try independently during math workshop time.

These cards are not only festive for the holiday season, but they really do give kids the chance to build up some important math skills!

I noticed many of my kids subitizing the smaller sets of gumdrops, or knowing the totals without having to count them one by one.

For the larger totals, it was a little harder, but it still gave them practice with skills like counting on and beginning addition… Yes, all in a clip card!

For example, on the clip card for 17 gumdrops, one student said the top two rows looked like a ten frame, so the counted on from 10. What a great strategy!

Students kept counting and clipping until all of the gumdrops from 1-20 had been counted and all of the cards had been clipped.

Grab Your Download

Are you ready to count some gumdrops with your kids too? Grab some clothespins and download your copy of the gumdrop count and clip cards by clicking the button below. Then hop over and snag our ten frame printables and gumdrop pattern cards too!

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