Farm Themed Count and Add Activity for Preschool
Farms are a popular choice for preschoolers and this week we are focusing on Farms as the theme of the week and some Maths. On our none preschool days (she attends the same preschool that J did 2 and a half days a week) I try and mix up our activities and play focusing on different aspects. So with our collection of farm animals, we sat down to do some hands-on mathematics.
Materials Needed
We have included affiliate links to products and resources if you make a purchase through these links we may earn a small commission
Selection of Farm Animals – if possible 6 of each type of animal you have
Large sheet of Paper or farm mat if you have one
Piece of Paper
Markers
Dice
Objectives
This activity covers the following Learning Objectives for Preschool and Kindergarten.
- Counting up to 20
- Recognising number patterns on a die
- Introducing number sentences
More Hands-on Counting Activities for Preschoolers
Preparation
I drew out a very quick representation of a farm on a large sheet of paper – a farm house and 3 fields, a cow shed and a pig sty (if you have a farm playmat then you could use this instead). Collected together all of the farm pieces and our die. Set out the activity with the farm animals, farm and dice as well as blank piece of paper.
Farm Count and Add
Sitting down together we quickly reviewed the different farm animals – our farm animals are great they are by Britians and great representations of the animals, however they replaced a set that the review of the animals would have been very necessary as they animals weren’t entirely clear. Once we had our 3 animals identified and sorted into groups of the same animals – pigs, sheep and cows we then started to play.
Using a farmer as the counter T placed her in the farm house I had drawn on the paper – she then rolled the die and together we counted out the dots, if you are using the die for the first time then help your preschooler out by placing a finger on the first dot and working around – counting out irregular patterns of dots, characters or any other objects can be tricky and teaching them little tricks like working in a clockwise direction or keeping a finger on the starting point can help them to develop tactics for life.
The farmer then moved the animals that T chose into one of the fields counting them as they went in and checking that the same number of animals as was on the dice was in the field.
After rolling 3 times I wrote a simple number sentence down – if you were good at drawing (I don’t think T would have recognised a pig from a cow if I had drawn them) then you could draw out the animals but in my case I wrote the name, either method adds to the learning opportunities.
We then counted all of the animals in the farm and totalled them up.
The nice thing was once we had finished the activity T sat down and carried on playing farms with the animals and my homemade farm playmat for about an hour counting the animals into the field and her farmers talking about how many animals they had on the farm in total and what would happen in some went to market (they would be sad in case you were wondering we’re not at the stage of understanding subtraction at all).
Farm Books to add to your book box this week.
Here are some fun books for preschoolers that you can add to your book box for a farm themed week
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson
Goodnight Tractor by Michelle Robinson
Maisy’s Tractor by Lucy Cousins
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker
How Big is a Pig? by Clare Beaton
The Little Red Hen by Byron Barton
Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Duck on a Tractor by David Shannon
Farm themed activities for preschoolers
Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Art, Sensory, Songs and MORE!!!!
Farm Animal Letter Sounds by Mom Inspired Life
Learning to Write: Labeling the Farm by Growing Book by Book
Make a Who Am I Farm Animal Book by The Educators’ Spin On It
Corn Life Cycle & Sequencing Cards for Preschool by The Preschool Toolbox Blog
While at the Farm: Children’s Farm Song by Capri + 3
Farm Animal Counting and Sorting Sensory Bin by Life Over C’s
Farm Themed Count and Add Activity for Preschool YOU ARE HERE
Corn Painting – An Art Activity for a Preschool Farm Theme by Fun-A-Day!
Preschoolers DIY Farm by Tiny Tots Adventure
Preschool Science: Duck Feather Experiment by Raising Lifelong Learners
Farm Animal Sort by Powerful Mothering
Wash the Farm: Fruits and Vegetable Sensory Play for Preschoolers by The Kennedy Adventures
More Farm Themed Activities for Kids
Farm Beginning Sounds Activity
Pin this Farm Themed Maths Activity to do later
Love hands-on math games like this. They are so exciting for small children and there are so many different ways you can change it up to keep it fun and novel!
Great activity! I am loving all the different farm scenes the team made this week. So many variations and skills to be worked on! This is an excellent way to practice math!
That is a fun game to help with early math skills. I will have to look for a large set of dice. It would be much easier for my preschoolers to count the dots that way. Your farm animals are so detailed. What a great collection!
Thank you so much! Now, I don’t have to look for the dice.
This looks great! I love your farm! Pinning this to remember for later!
What an interactive fun farm game to learn the numbers. Can I ask you where you got your large die? I have been looking for one!