Free Printable Preschool Counting Game

A fun printable, preschool counting game to help children learn to recognise the numerals 1 to 12 and practise counting with one-to-one correspondence.

Why Play Counting Games with Preschoolers?

Counting meaningfully requires children to do more than recite number words. To count meaningfully a child needs to apply the cardinal principle – that is, an understanding that the size (or number) of a group of objects is determined by the last number reached when counting the set. The most important way parents can support the development of the cardinal principle with their child is through involving their preschooler with regular, meaningful opportunities to count groups of objects (especially groups of more than three objects).

Making these opportunities playful and fun through the use of counting games is a great way to motivate young children to count.

This printable game invites preschoolers to count the correct number of ice cream scoops needed to correctly match the number in the group to the numeral printed on each cone.

RELATED: 15 Preschool Counting Songs and Finger Plays

To play, invite (or help) your child to line the ice cream cones up in number order from 1 to 12. Practise counting along the line as you count the cones with one to one correspondence.

Then invite your child to place the scoops onto each cone, counting the scoops each time to ensure the number of scoops matches the numeral shown.

Printing Your Preschool Counting Game

Click here to download: Ice Cream Preschool Counting Game. Save the PDF to your own computer. Open the PDF and print the pages – to create one full game set you will need to print 7 copies of the ice cream scoops page and one copy of each of the ice cream cone pages. When printing, select “Fit to printable area” (or similar) to ensure the page fits with your printer type and local paper size (these have been created at A4 size). I suggest printing onto card stock or matte photo paper. Laminate the printed game pieces for durability.

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Please note: All Childhood 101 printables are for personal use only, you may not use any part of this content for  commercial purposes-that includes selling the document, giving it away to promote your business or website, or printing the file to sell. You may not share, loan or redistribute these documents. Teachers may use multiple copies for students in their own classroom.

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