Games and Videos to Teach Numbers and Counting

As a kindergarten teacher number sense is part of many essential standards that are practiced throughput the school year. Counting and number recognition are two of these standards that kindergarten teachers spend a lot of time on especially at the beginning of the school year.

Any kindergarten teacher will tell you the teen numbers seem to be the hardest for most students. What is it about 12, 13 and 15 that they somehow seem to skip one of these every time?

Counting on a number chart daily isn't enough to help them learn. This just won't work for all students. Yes practicing helps, but if you are to look out into your classroom as you are pointing to each number and counting orally, you will see that the ones who already can count are probably the ones who are doing it and the ones who can't are looking at their shoes or tracing the carpet square with their fingers.

This is why we need to provide other forms of counting activities to engage our students. Right now I am 100% virtual so the activities I am sharing are what I'm doing with my students remotely.

Counting Games

Ten Frame Flash-Each day I show them ten frame cards, they count the number of dot hen show me using their fingers. I ask them to hold their hand right in front of thwir face. This way I can actually see their hands.

Subitizing Dots- Some days they count and how with fingers or count and write on their white boards. Their white board is a sheet protector with a piece of cardstock inside.

Show Me- I give them a number and they draw that many circles or show me that many cube in a stack. Show me 6. they draw 6 circle or stack 6 cubes, or some days they will use their ten frames and put the cubes on their ten frames. Then I call on kids to count them out.

What Did I skip? I will count slowly 1,2,3,5,6 what did skip? they write the number down and show me. 9,10,11,13,14, what did I skip?

Count with Me- This game we practiced together, but i asked them to play it at home as it is difficult to do online. T:1 Ss:2 T:3 Ss:4 T:5 Ss:6. Basically we would count back and forth. If they were at school they would do this with a partner. I asked the students to do this at home with a household member.

The best part about all of these games is that they are counting and writing. I am able to evaluate their writing skills, tell a student if their number is backwards, or see who has an incorrect answer.