Do you have puzzle fans in your early childhood class?

My children always loved playing with puzzles when they were young. We had boxes of them all around the house for years.

Since puzzles are usually a big hit at early math centers, we’ve shared several preschool counting puzzles here.

And here they are all in one place – which is great if you’re planning your early math lessons for the year!

These are excellent for math centers, but they also work well for morning tubs, independent work, or homeschooling. Particularly if you have younger ones who need to work quietly while you teach an older child.

Read on to see the full list.

And, for more early childhood teaching ideas, take a look at our list of 20 printable preschool resources!

How to Use Preschool Counting Puzzles with Kids

Whenever I set up counting puzzles for early learners, I always go to the same list of supplies.

If you’ll be using preschool counting puzzles often, you might want to pick up these basic needs before you get started. You’ll use them over and over again.

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• Printer (with ink)
• Printer paper
• Laminator (helpful for keeping the puzzle pieces intact for use later)
• Scissors

You don’t have to laminate your number puzzles, especially if you print them on cardstock. But I always do.

Little hands can be unusually hard on paper math manipulatives. I found that an unlaminated resource rarely survived a month or more.

My laminated preschool resources, though, are still going strong – years later!

Fun Preschool Number Puzzles to Try

There are plenty of ways to add number and counting fluency in early grades, but these are some of the preschool counting puzzles we’ve shared here.

Below you’ll find several different themed resources – so you can work on cardinality throughout the year!

Preschool Counting Puzzles

Ready to teach early learners to count from one to ten! Use these fun preschool counting puzzles to make this concept into a fun, hands-on lesson!

Prep these resources once and then use them over and over again to reinforce counting fluency!

Apple Count! Apple Number Puzzles

These apple counting to ten puzzles are a wonderful resource for the back to school and fall seasons!

Use them along with an apple or fall unit to help students practice relating numerals to sets of objects!

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Pirate Printable Counting Puzzles for Kids

These fun, pirate-themed counting to ten puzzles are so cute for a pirate unit!

Designed to be self-checking, these puzzles make a wonderful math center activity!

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Printable Shark Counting to Ten Puzzles for Kids

Studying sharks or ocean life? Add these fun shark counting puzzles to your unit!

These puzzles come in two versions: one with numerals and matching objects and a second with number words and matching objects.

An excellent way to introduce number word literacy!

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Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity for Kids

Try these rainbow themed number and number word matching puzzles during spring!

Since this resource does not include cardinal objects, it's a good step up for early learners who have mastered counting objects to ten.

Also available as a digital activity!

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Ladybug Number Word Counting Puzzles

Move on to number word literacy with these ladybug number word puzzles!

These have three pieces each and they help students connect numerals, cardinal objects, and number words - all at the same time!

Also available as a digital activity!

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Don’t miss these other preschool learning ideas!

The post Fun Preschool Counting Puzzles for Early Learners appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

Counting is one of the most important skills kids learn in early grades.

But there’s more to counting than just reciting numerals from 1 to 10.

Students also need to learn how to use ordinal numbers to assign sequential order to objects in a line.

And that’s why I’m excited to share this pumpkin themed kindergarten ordinal numbers lesson!

This resource includes both printable practice for students, as well as a teaching lesson you can use to introduce this skills to your class!

Read on to see how to get your copy. And, for more pumpkin learning fun, take a look at our Pumpkin Same and Different Worksheets too!

Pumpkin Places! Kindergarten Ordinal Number Lesson

Young children usually have a pretty good idea of what “first” means already.

Just try to give someone else something ahead of them. They’ll shout “I was first!” It’s the other numbers that might need a little practice, right?

This kindergarten ordinal number lesson can help!

To use these kindergarten ordinal number worksheets, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are used below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• Printer (with ink)
• Printer paper or cardstock
• Pencils
• Scissors (optional)
• Dry erase markers (optional)

This is a complete math lesson on how to count with ordinal numbers for early learners.

It begins with a two-page lesson that explains what ordinal numbers are and how they are used in counting.

Once you read the lesson with the class, you can hand out the first set of ordinal number worksheets.

These help students learn to find the object in the correct ordinal place.

The worksheets follow the same format as the lesson, so students won’t get confused trying to understand the directions.

Since this resource is for early learners, the focus is on learning ordinal numbers from first through fifth only.

The second set of worksheets lets students identify the ordinal number places in which each pumpkin stands.

Then they can write the correct ordinal number word or write the correct ordinal number place for each pumpkin.

Need to save on ink? Use the line art version, which is also included.

Plus, you can have the class color the worksheets afterward, which is always fun.

This resource also adapts well for use at math centers!

Add it to a clear sheet protector and let students use dry erase markers to complete it.

You might also try cutting the worksheet into strips and placing the strips on a ring. They make a wonderful addition to morning tubs!

A full answer key is also included!

See this resource in action below!

Scroll down to get your copy of this fall kindergarten ordinal number lesson!

Try some of these other fall learning ideas!

The post Pumpkin Places! Kindergarten Ordinal Number Lesson for Kids appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

Spring is finally here! And it’s a great time of year to read one of our favorite children’s books: The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. As we read the story, we talked a bit about how ladybugs are beautifully designed with colorful spots and lines.

And that’s when I decided to share a few printable activities for The Grouchy Ladybug that help kids learn to work with numbers and fractions!

Ladybugs are so perfectly divided into quarters that they make wonderful math counting frames and fraction templates. And that’s what you’ll see in these printable ladybug math activities!

Read on to see how to get this set for free! And for more fun with ladybugs, don’t miss our easy coffee filter ladybug craft!

Reading The Grouchy Ladybug with Kids

Our kids love reading The Grouchy Ladybug. They always laugh at how cantankerous the ladybug is at the beginning.

He’s just mean and stubborn and unnecessarily contentious.

But after an encounter with a much, much, much larger animal (a whale), he is sufficiently chastened to show a little gratitude to his fellow ladybug.

Printable Math Activities for The Grouchy Ladybug

To do these printable activities for The Grouchy Ladybug, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• Printer (with ink)
• Printer paper
• Crayons
• Safety scissors
• Laminator (optional)

To take the ladybug theme a bit farther, we created a couple of hands-on math activities for kids.

In one of the math activities, we had the boys color ladybug fraction templates.

They took turns creating basic fractions on their ladybugs.

They could show 1/4.

Or they could show 3/4.

Or they could work with the halves and show 1/2. You can also have kids use all of the pieces to discuss what the word “whole” means in mathematics and that fractions are simply “part” of a whole piece.

Then we started working with our ladybug “spots”.

After laminating the pages and cutting them out, we used spots on either side of the ladybug to practice counting, basic addition, and subtraction with the ladybug spots.

As they added up the number of spots on each side, they learned a few ways to add and reach 10. Plus, there are a few extra spots in case of any whoopsies while cutting.

Don’t miss these other great posts!

And for more bug-themed fun, try these ideas!

To get your copy of our Ladybug Learning Math Activities printables, click the image or the link below to have them sent directly to your inbox!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter this Sunday!

>>> Ladybug Math Activity Set <<<

This post is part of the “A Book and a Big Idea: Spring” linkup at iHomeschool Network! Stop by and see how our fellow bloggers are learning about spring with their families this year!

The post Printable Activities for The Grouchy Ladybug appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.