Home > Preschool Ideas > Regular Arrangement of Objects Number Pattern Recognition Activity For Preschoolers Inspired by Mouse Count

Regular Arrangement of Objects Number Pattern Recognition Activity For Preschoolers Inspired by Mouse Count

In the book Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh, the snake places the mice into a jar as he counts them in and they escape. Inspired by this we have decided for our Number Week for the Virtual Book Club for Kids we are going to learn some Regularly Number Pattern Arrangements inside some jars to help with number recognition and counting. So here goes a simple to do Number Pattern Recognition for Preschoolers inspired by Mouse Count.

mouse count inspired number activity for preschoolers
Counting objects in regular arrangements inspired by the mice in the jar in Mouse Count.

Although we’ve done this activity indoors I’ve provided an alternative suggestion for doing the same activity outside and on a larger scale great for getting those little bodies moving around and learning at the same time.

Recognising Number Patterns

This is a really useful skill for kids to learn. It can help them to instantly see a number and count a regular arrangement of objects quickly.

You can help your child to learn to do this by playing games with dice like Snakes and Ladders but also doing this activity together.

Simple fun rhyming and silly number and counting books to share with your toddlers and preschoolers.
Counting Books and Number Rhymes for Toddlers and Preschoolers

We did this and read some of our numbers and counting books and sang some counting rhymes as part of our Virtual Book Club for Kids this week.

Materials Needed for this Preschool Maths Activity tO HELP COUNTING OF OBJECTS IN REGULAR ARRANGEMENTS

materials needed for number pattern counting activity
The materials for this counting objects in regular arrangements activity for preschoolers.
  • Wooden Hoops – curtains rings work ours are from a Spielgaben set
  • Wooden Beads or Dots again the ones used in this activity are from the set above.
  • Large sheet of Paper
  • Marker
Learning number patterns of regular objects like the 3 on a die!

Setting up this Simple Maths Centre Activity for Preschoolers learning numbers in regular Arrangements.

Write the numbers 1 to 5 on the large sheet of paper giving lots of space between them

Set up each of the circles with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 dots or beads in as you would see on a dice

regular pattern of dots helping preschoolers with learning to count
The regular pattern of dots helping preschoolers to learn to count.

Place the circles with dots in randomly around the paper

preschool math activity set up for use
Preschool math activity set up to help learn regular arrangements of objects to support learning to count.

How Many? 0 to 5 Regular Arrangement of OBjects Counting Activity for Preschoolers

We started off with looking at the numbers that I had written on the paper – going through the numbers in random order first and then in numerical order.

Reading numbers for this simple math activity for ece
Point and read the numerals to help support your preschoolers with written number recognition.

Once I was certain that she knew the placement of each of the numbers we then looked at the patterns.

find me a circle with 3 dots in
“Find me a circle with 3 Dots in”

I said “Find me the circle with 1 in?”, “Which circle has 2 dots in?”, then asked her to point to another circle and I asked her “How many dots is there – without counting!”.

counting and recognising the regular arrangement of the number 4 in objects
Spotting the differences between 4 and 5 in a regular arrangement of objects

It was interesting 1, 2 and 3 she was great on 4 and 5 caused some problems. We then looked just at those two, talking about the similarities – the dots made a square shape, and the differences one had a dot in the centre, different coloured dots.

Matching numbers of objects in a circle with the number of objects there are
Matching objects and numbers.

We then moved each of the circle in numerical order over to the correct number. Dragging it across the sheet of paper and positioning it on top.

Adapting this Number Pattern Recognition Activity for outdoors

Yes as promised this is my plan – materials needed a Hula Hoop, some Ball Pit Balls and the numbers 1 to 5 from a Numbers Mat.

Position the numbers around the garden similar to how we did on our number activity here and then inside the hula hoop place the balls in the same arrangement as we did with the circles. You can use 1 hula hoop and after the hoop has moved, swap them out and change up the number pattern. Or if you have 5 hula hoops and at least 15 balls then set them up and get the children to drag them to the correct numbers as well.

learning regular arrangements of numbers with this simple hands-on activity
Hands-on Learning Activity for Preschoolers looking at the patterns of objects to help to count.

Mouse Count Activities for Preschoolers

Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh - Number Line and Counting activity
Mice in a Jar – a fun counting activity for preschoolers inspired by Mouse Count.

We loved the book Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh so much that we also created this Mice in the Jar Mouse Count Activity for Preschoolers.

More Number and Counting Activities on Rainy Day Mum

Jack and the beanstalk number line and ten frame activity set up for preschoolers and kinder to use
Jack and the BeanStalk Number Activity
Feed the Hungry Lion Counting Game
Simple number activity for toddlers and preschoolers to work on Number Recognition and Ordering.
Giant Number Line for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Inspired by the Book Jack and the Beanstalk we worked on counting to 10 with a DIY ten frame and number line in this Jack and the Beanstalk Counting to 10 Activity.

Feed the Hungry Lion in this Zoo Themed Counting Activity for Preschoolers. Count out how many animals it eats and with older children add and subtract too.

Get outside and create a giant Number Line with your Preschoolers and Toddlers in this simple activity to work on number recognition and ordering.

More counting activities from Our Preschool Blogging Friends.

counting to 5 recognising regularly patterns with preschoolers
Simple preschool activity for helping to learn to count regular patterns of numbers.
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.

8 Comments

  1. Love the Spielgaben sets! Great activity for subitizing small groups of items! I hadn’t thought of the hula hoop, but we’ll be trying that this fall!

  2. Wow I had no idea that the Spielgaben set was so diverse. Those manipultives are so appelaing and although we don’t have that set, this is an activity I think my son would love.

  3. Love the manipulatives! I’m trying to think of other things we can use to do this too!

  4. That is such a great visual recognition counting activity! I had never heard of the Spielgaben sets before seeing your posts that use them. Now, I want some!

  5. What fun math materials. I like how the circles give the numbered objects a contained space to count how many.

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