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Penguin Ice Flow Counting Game

One of my favorite Polar Animals are Penguins – there is just something about these cute little non-flying birds that grabs my interest and my children are the same. So when we were planning themes for January and February for the Virtual Book Club for Kids Penguins had to be featured. The featured book Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon is such a wonderful story of penguins and also kindness perfect for this time of year as well although don’t worry we have some other ideas of Penguin books to share with you just scroll down. To go with this theme a fun Counting Game that children can make themselves. So here it is our Penguin Counting Game.

Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.

Materials Needed for the Penguin Counting Game

Potato

Knife

Black, White, and Orange Paint

Paint Brush

Card Stock

Googly Eyes

Egg Flats or Trays (US Amazon Link / UK Amazon Link)

Black Sharpie Marker


Another Fun DIY Penguin Game ~ Feed the Penguin Game


Part 1 – Potato Print Penguins

Sometimes the classic activities have the best results and I decided that to involve the children from the start it would be a good idea for them to create their own penguins. So potato print penguins were a perfect choice as they are easy to make and even very young children can make these.

  1. Take a large oval potato and cut in half.Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.
  2. Now take one-half and cut a 1cm (1/4″ slice) to make a smaller oval.Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.
  3. Use the biggest half and print a black oval on the page – as you can see we made multiple copies of this as T wanted to count them out.Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.
  4. Now leave to dry for a little white
  5. Using the smaller oval use white paint and print a smaller oval in the middle of the body.Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.
  6. Put aside to dry
  7. Now take a small paint brush and some orange paint and create 2 feet and a beak.Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.
  8. Add two googly eyes and leave to dry.
  9. Once dry cut out a penguin to use in the game.
Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.

Part 2 – Penguin Ice Flow Counting Game

Preparation

Take an Egg Flat and turn it over so you have some icebergs facing up. If you have a colored egg tray then you could paint it white and leave to dry. On the cones, you want to number these using your sharpie marker.

Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.

I used number 1 – 10 however, you can focus on numbers 1 – 5 for younger children, or 1 – 20 with older children. Work on what your child knows and a little bit more.

Playing Penguin Ice Flow Counting Game

It’s really easy to do and you have a few different ways to play – first call out a number and the child makes their way to that penguin or get them to move around the ice flows in sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, etc…

Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.

Another alternative and I did raid our animal box for some “sharks” and “elephant seals” is to get your child to make their way from one side of the ice flow to the other without meeting a shark or an elephant seal calling out the numbers that they land on as they go.


More Math Games for Toddlers and Preschoolers


Penguin Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers

This week’s featured book for our Penguin Theme is Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon – don’t worry if you can’t find it there is a fantastic reading of the book on YouTube which I have included below.

 However, if you want to add more Penguin books to your book basket this week here are 4 others that we love reading.

Tacky Penguin by Helen Lester

Penguins! by Gail Gibbons

Little Penguin: The Emperor of the Antarctic by Jonathon London

and

A Mother’s Journey by Sandra Markle

Even More Penguin Activities

Each week we share the cohosts ideas for learning based on the week’s theme. You can find even more inspiration within the Virtual Book Club for Kids Facebook Group as well as further book lists and other book based inspiration and activities.

Check out these Toddler and Preschool Ideas for Penguin Themed activities

Penguin Themed Literacy Ideas

Sight Word Spin Read and Colour from Sea of Knowledge

Penguin Themed Maths Ideas

Penguin Ice Flow Game – you are here!

Penguin Themed Sensory and Play

How to make a Penguin Sensory Bin from Mama Smiles

Penguin Sensory Bin from Clare’s Little Tots

Penguin Themed Art and Craft Activities

Penguin Painting from My Storytime Corner

Pinecone Penguin Craft from To be a Kid Again

Penguin Painting for Toddlers from Inspiration Laboratories

Penguin Motor Skills

Penguin Action Song and Gross Motor Activity from J Daniel4’s Mom


More Penguin Themed Activities


Pin this Penguin Counting Game to Make and Play Later

Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.

Share this Maths Game with others on Facebook

Create this Penguin Counting Game with your toddlers and preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting in sequence.
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.

3 Comments

  1. The penguins turned out so sweet. I imagine making a few more for some sweet cards this month too.

  2. Those potato print penguins are just SO cute. And what a clever way to learn with them. We have egg cartons saved so we have to do this!

  3. I love your penguins, and this is such a fun way to practice counting!

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