My very favorite preschool math activities have been reserved for my "PRE-MATH" booklet (see the "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers" section of my website).
 
dominoesNUMBER: 10        
 
From Stormie:
Math Activity: Counting: "Ten":
In advance, put small objects from the classroom in a brown lunchbag.  All of the objects must be something that you have ten of somewhere in the room.  During learning center playtime, children go to the bag and without looking, take out an object, then they find and bring ten of those items to you.  A few suggestions of objects you probably have in your room are: crayons, teddy bear counters, dinosaur counters, pegs, craft sticks, etc.
 
Number Bracelets: Using a permanent marker, print dots on 10 hoop bracelets (1 dot on first bracelet, 2 dots on next bracelet, 3 dots on next one, etc. through the number 10).  Have children (girls especially like this) place the bracelets on their arm in numerical order.

Pre-Math/Creative Art: The Ten Collage: Away from the creative art table, provide separate containers of several items (Q-tips, craft sticks, cotton balls, etc).  Have children choose one item they would like to use for creating something.  Once they choose, have them count out 10 of those items and carry them to the creative art table and create anything they wish.  At the table, provide other collage items for them to use with these items (crayons, markers, glue, paper scissors, etc).
Variation: Have the children count out 11 or 12 of the items if they are ready for counting above 10.

New Fun With Old Rhymes:
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
One, two, buckle my shoe
Three, four, knock at the door
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, a good fat hen
Help children act out the rhyme as a group or individually: They can count the numbers on their fingers as the words are being said.  They can pretend to buckle their shoes (or use a large buckle type shoe as a prop).  They can pretend to knock on a door (or knock on a real one).  They can pretend to pick up sticks (or pick up real ones, then lay them straight).  They can cackle like a hen.
 

Song: And who can forget this old favorite?  It's not only a song that teaches a pre-math concept, it fits into so many different themes -- letter Aa, letter Mm, marching (gross motor), rhyming woords (language)........

Ants Go Marching
The ants go marching one by one, hooray, hooray!
The ants go marching one by one, hooray, hooray!
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching ..................down to the ground
To get out of the rain BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

All other verses are the same as the one above except for the 4th line:

The ants go marching two by two, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to tie his shoe

The ants go marching three by three, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to climb a tree

The ants go marching four by four, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to shut the door

The ants go marching five by five, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to take a dive

The ants go marching six by six, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to pick up sticks

The ants go marching seven by seven, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to pray to heaven

The ants go marching eight by eight, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to shut the gate

The ants go marching nine by nine, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to check the time

The ants go marching ten by ten, hooray, hooray!
..........The little one stops to say "THE END!"

Stormie's Games: By the way, I offer a "Counting Cards" game in the "Teaching Aids" section of "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers.
 
From Lucy Vieira, Alturas, California:
How Many Bugs? If "Bugs" and "Numbers 1-10" are two of your themes for this month, here's a neat pre-math activity for children who can recognize numbers: Print a number from between 1-10 on a large card (one card per child).  Pass out pastel colored markers and then ask the children to draw the same number of bugs on their cards to correspond to the numbers.  (Explain on a preschooler level of understanding, of course, and accept whatever version of bugs that are drawn  :-)
 
From Juliet:
Music and Movement: Number Recognition Hoops: I made sets of numbers (0-10) and laminated them.  I have some hoops.  I place numbers in each hoop.  The children dance around the hoops, and when the music stops, I call out a number and all the children find a hoop with that number and get in it. (They love this game.)  
Variation (if you have lots of hoops): When the music stops, each child gets into any hoop (one hoop per child).  I call out a number and whoever is in a hoop with that number follows an instruction (turn around, clap 3 times, etc).


NUMBERS 11 & 12:
From Stormie:
Counting to 11 and/or 12: This is so simple: Put out a familiar game.  For example, lets say that, in the past, you have placed a bead counting game in your math center where you provide children with a container of 10 beads that they have then lined up in a row as they count aloud.  Well, this time, provide 11 or 12 beads.

Eleven: Put out a 12-cup muffin tin with a container of 11 large pom-poms.  Allow two children to play the game together, and instruct them to put one pom-pom into each section.  The point is to allow them to discover (and report to you) that there aren't enough.  You will ask, "How many are there?"  They will then have to count them.  For the next two children, place a container or 11 large beads near the muffin tin.  They, too, will come up short.  (You get the idea.)

Pre-Math: Shape Numbers: This is time consuming, but once it's done, you'll use it soooo often.  Make sets of "shape numbers": Print numbers 1-12 on colored shapes of posterboard (#1 on a circle, #2 on a square, #3 on a triangle, etc).  Make 3-5 sets.  Place them all in a basket and put it in the Pre-Math Center.  Children can sort by number, by shape, or by color.    

From Julaine in Cincinnati, Ohio:
A Dozen Eggs: I put out a dozen plastic eggs in a clean egg carton.  The children use one-to-one correspondence as they place an egg in each section of the carton.

Share your ideas too.  E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com
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Reminder from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards."  Click here to check them out.

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