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DIY Pirate Maths Sorting Game for Preschoolers

My kids were always fascinated by pirates. They loved reading about them, playing with various imaginative play toys we had and they also were great to include in any learning activities. Because of the coins and gems that are associated with pirates, they are perfect for creating some maths games and activities with. This Pirate Math Game for Preschoolers is easy to set up and helps them develop colour awareness, fine motor skills and sorting.

Pinnable image for a pirate math game for preschoolers

Pirate Math Game

Hands-on maths activities are the best way for children to learn. Using themes and ideas that they love helps them to understand the ideas and for them to embed easier. With this DIY Maths Game for Preschoolers, you can work on:

top down view of a pirate maths game set up ready for a preschooler to play with
  • Counting out the gems into the treasure chest
  • Colour recognition
  • Fine Motor Pincer Grip
  • Sorting

Materials Needed for Your DIY Pirate Treasure Chest Sorting Game for Preschoolers

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Creating your Own Pirate Treasure Chest

I had a quick search on Amazon for a pirate treasure chest but then decided it would be much more fun to create my own. So following this tutorial over on Red Ted Art and using an Egg Carton I put together our Pirate Treasure Chest which also made the sorting of the gems for the maths activity must easier.

a pair of large kids tongs taking pirate gems and placing them in a handmade pirate treasure chest from an egg carton box

Once the treasure chest was dry we set up the activity.

Playing this Simple Pirate Themed Sorting Activity with Preschoolers

simple pirate themed maths game for preschoolers a diy egg carton tresaure chest plus gems and tongs to work on counting and sorting
  1. Set up with the treasure chest surrounded by the gems and provide your child with a choice of tongs.
  2. Ask for the different colours to be identified. The selection of gems we have has light and dark of some of the colours so we were able to compare these as well as the standard colours.
  3. Now show them how to sort the gems into the egg carton holes.
  4. Remember to count the gems in.
using tongs to move gems into the cups of an egg carton counting out the number and sorting the colours togethers

Tips for playing this maths game with preschoolers

Depending on the age of your child you may want to start off the activity by only providing 6 different colours of gems to go in the holes. If this is the case we would suggest it is best to use

  • red
  • blue
  • yellow
  • green
  • orange
  • purple

The primary and secondary colours and some of the colour names your child will need to know.

Once your child has grasped these then introduce the different shades and other colours like clear and gold!

moving gems into sorted portions of an egg carton pirates tresaure box for a sorting and counting maths game for preschoolers

As your child gets used to the numbers instead of counting the gems into each hole and then returning to zero. Count on to find out how many in total you have inside the treasure chest.

You can also remove the gems and work on introducing subtraction and take away.

DIY pirate treasure chest with gems ready to count and sort

Pirate Books to Read

Want to extend the topic further why not pick up some books and try some of these other pirate books for preschoolers we love to read aloud.

More Maths Games for Preschoolers

frog pond counting game for toddlers and preschoolers
farm theme addition game for kids to make and quickly play
ladybird playdough addition game with buttons

DIY Frog Pond Counting Game inspired by the song 5 Little Speckled Frogs

Farm Counting Game for Preschoolers – add subtract and count the animals on the farm with your preschoolers in this simple DIY game for Maths.

Play this simple Ladybird counting game with your preschooler working on adding two numbers together.

Pinterest image for a pirate theme counting and sorting maths game to make for preschoolers from egg carton and gems
Author
Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.

One Comment

  1. Awwww love how your treasure box turned out! And those are some amazing gems! What a great activity

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