Number Recognition Activities for Preschoolers: Use Games as Learning Tools
You want to give your child the best chance at succeeding in life. Whether that’s putting money into their education fund or helping them build resilience by teaching them how to overcome setbacks, nothing matters more than the foundation you’re laying for your child’s future.
Education is a key aspect of that foundation. The more you engage your child in learning experiences, the more capable they’ll be as they advance in their academic career. The good news? You’re the most influential mentor in your child’s life. No one will have a more profound impact in shaping the person they’ll become. And you can never start too young!
Toddlers are much more perceptive than we often realize. By incorporating fun, engaging, and educational activities into their daily routine, parents can nurture cognitive development while bonding with their little ones in meaningful ways.
And the best part? SimplyFun is here to help!
Keep scrolling to learn more about our educational number recognition games and math board games.
Why is Number Recognition an Important Skill for Preschoolers?
Numbers are everywhere. Children are exposed to numbers daily, whether it’s the clock on the wall, a price tag, or television channels. But in many cases, toddlers aren’t taught what numbers mean or the different ways in which they function.
That is concerning for two reasons:
1. Learning Builds Confidence
Suppose your child isn’t introduced to mathematical concepts before they start kindergarten. In that case, they’ll likely lack confidence in this area and may fall behind other students who have been learning numbers for a more extended time.
Remember, number recognition activities for preschoolers aren’t just about ensuring your child knows the correct answer. They’re about setting confidence in motion by encouraging your child to guess, make mistakes, and have fun throughout the learning process.
2. Numbers are a Fundamental Skill
It’s mandatory to participate in number recognition activities in kindergarten. It’s part of the curriculum! By incorporating it into play activities with your child, you can give them a head start on this topic and advance their early learning development.
Your child will learn to recognize numbers, write them, match them in pairs, and (most importantly) use their critical thinking skills — all essential in countless aspects of life. It’s always a good idea to instill these lessons early on. The more educators and parents introduce mathematical concepts to kids in preschool, the more likely they’ll quickly grasp more advanced tasks.
5 Number Recognition Games for Preschoolers
Games make learning fun! Children are naturally wired for creative and imaginative play. It’s enjoyable for them and helps them develop essential skills and better retain new information.
Teaching number recognition through engaging and playful games is important since math is often viewed as a “serious” or “boring” subject. Making math fun makes your child less adverse to mathematics and less likely to associate it with negative emotions.
Here are five fun number recognition games we recommend:
Crazy Ates
This game encourages children to explore and develop various skills, including color recognition, counting, and basic number sense. Your child will have to think critically to determine how to match one of their cards to the card on top of the discard pile. Plus, the bright cartoon visuals and interactive gameplay benefit your child’s cognitive, motor, and social development! It’s easily one of our favorite number recognition examples.
Share a Berry
Prepare to embark on a berry-picking adventure that combines the excitement of gameplay with the power of mathematics and teamwork! The goal is simple — gather as many berries as possible before sunset. Each player has to pick berries and strategically decide how to distribute them amongst everyone. It’ll take collaboration, counting, and problem-solving to share the berries before it’s too late!
Uncle Beary’s Bedtime
Parents wondering how to teach number recognition will love this game — and their kids will, too! Uncle Beary wants to enjoy a good night’s sleep, but for that to happen, he needs all the little bear cubs to go to bed. Players roll a die and move their cubs between toy tiles and bed tiles. Ultimately, the player with the most bear cubs in their bed wins! But it’s not as simple as it sounds. Players must use cooperation, math skills, and strategy to reach their goal!
Tibbar's Little Hands, Big Smiles
This puzzle game set has three different hands-on number recognition activities designed to help preschoolers develop essential skills. Whether it's putting numbers in sequence, assembling playful puzzles, or identifying shapes and colors, every moment is a chance for your little ones to learn and grow.
Pop Belly
Step into a world of numbers, strategy, and belly laughs with the exciting "Pop Belly" game! The game includes a set of pigs with detachable bellies. Players start by feeding two colored chips to the pigs, and then each player rolls a die, determining if they have to provide more chips to the pigs.
Be careful which pigs you choose to feed! If the pig’s belly explodes, all other players except you get to count the chips and move ahead that many spaces while you remain stuck. The player who leaves the barnyard first wins!
4 Number Recognition Activities for Preschoolers
Board games are a fantastic way to add fun to mathematics, but they aren’t the only way to help your child develop number recognition skills. There are plenty of activities you can do for free!
These activities are the tiny puzzle pieces that make up the big picture of math success. Over time, they build strong math skills and boost confidence. We encourage engaging in these activities with children so you can gently guide them and provide encouragement.
Whether exploring the world of numbers through playful math games or embarking on imaginative adventures in nature that spark creativity, adults can turn every moment into a teachable one. So get involved, be a playmate, and seek out new ways to learn together!
Here are a few number recognition activities for toddlers you can try:
Number Recognition Puzzles
Number recognition puzzles are the perfect way to set children on a path of early mathematical exploration. As their tiny fingers work to find numbers and place them in the correct puzzle slots, they’ll learn what each number looks like, building confidence with each proper placement!
Examples of number recognition puzzles include:
1. Missing Number Sequence
In this activity, you present a sequence of numbers with one or more missing numbers to a child. Their objective is to identify the missing numbers and fill in the blanks to complete the sequence. It’s a straightforward exercise that reinforces the order and pattern of numbers, helping little ones develop their recognition of numerical sequences.
2. Number Memory Puzzle
Prepare a set of cards with pairs of matching numbers. Shuffle the cards and lay them face down. Players take turns flipping over two cards at a time, trying to find matching pairs of numbers. This memory-boosting puzzle challenges them to remember the locations of different numbers, enhancing number recognition skills with each round!
3. Number Bingo
Create Bingo cards using different numbers. Have children sit at a table with their cards in front of them. Call out numbers, and have each player mark off the corresponding numbers on their cards. It’s a game that enhances number recognition and listening skills as kids search for and locate numbers on their cards.
These are just a few examples of popular number recognition puzzles. There are plenty of other ideas out there on the internet. We encourage researching and incorporating new ideas into your child’s daily routine.
Ideally, preschool children should spend 1-2 hours daily engaged in learning activities. A few simple number recognition puzzles can quickly provide an hour’s worth of structured learning time and the chance for parents to bond with their kids!
Number Tracing
Number tracing isn’t just about children honing their handwriting abilities. It’s also a way to introduce the concept of counting and numerical order. As they make their way through the numbers in chronological order, they’ll begin to recognize not just each individual number but the sequence in which they appear.
Parents and educators can also reinforce this learning by encouraging children to speak the numbers as they trace them and repeat the entire sequence once they've finished. If you’ve been searching for number recognition activities for preschool kids, we highly encourage trying number tracing. It’s a simple practice that yields significant results!
Number Coloring Books
Are you looking for printable number recognition activities for preschool-aged children? Number coloring books are a great option. Plenty of free books are available on the web, all of which allow little ones to familiarize themselves with numbers and basic mathematical concepts. They’ll instinctively grasp the patterns and relationships between numbers as they color, developing a solid numerical foundation for the future.
Hopscotch
It’s a game that dates back to the 17th century, and there’s a reason why hopscotch has stood the test of time — kids love playing it! But did you know hopscotch is also a great number recognition preschool activity?
Young children benefit from looking at the numbers on the ground and counting as they hop along the court. Plus, it gets their bodies moving and encourages social interaction with other kids, making it a well-rounded activity that’s enjoyable and effective for learning math skills.
Educational Games from SimplyFun
Number recognition activities for preschoolers can involve using colorful and engaging counting games to help them identify numbers visually and develop early math skills. Incorporating hands-on activities like counting objects or tracing numbers can also make learning numbers a fun and interactive experience.
Are you passionate about nurturing young minds? So are we! That’s why we create fun, interactive communication games that elevate learning experiences for kids.
Our games are thoughtfully designed to inspire imagination, foster confidence, and make learning unforgettable. Because when children enjoy learning, they become motivated by their sense of wonder and curiosity, and that’s the secret to lifelong academic growth!
Our games also cater to a diverse range of abilities. It’s important to us that every child has an opportunity to learn in a way that sparks joy and empowers them for the future. Whether a child is living with autism, color vision deficiencies, or cognitive delays, we have accessible games to meet their needs.
Over the years, our games have racked up over 250 awards from parenting groups to academic circles. Best of all, they are so much fun to play that kids are unaware they are also learning new concepts and skills. Plus, if you happen to misplace a game piece, we’ll ship you a replacement free of charge as long as we have it in stock.
We hope you’ll join us in nurturing and empowering the young problem-solvers of tomorrow! Click here to browse our game selection today!
Shop all Early Learning Math & STEM Games