30 Fun and Engaging Number Sense Activities for Pre-K and Early Elementary
Reviewed by Owen Bissell
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One of the most important math concepts young learners need to master is a set of skills known as number sense. Give them plenty of hands-on practice with this roundup of engaging number sense activities.
What is Number Sense?
Simply put, number sense is a general understanding of what numbers are and how they work. Students build fluency in number sense by mastering a variety of important concepts, like counting, number recognition, and spatial sense.
Preschool kids begin developing number sense from a very young age, and they can’t get too much practice with these valuable skills. When elementary students struggle with math, it’s often because they don’t have strong number sense fluency. They can benefit from a return to the fundamentals before they try to move on to more advanced concepts. One thing to note, is to explicitly call out “zero” as a quantity to recognize and as a number to be included in counting. Zero winds up being one of the most important digits in the base-ten system, so an early introduction to it is valuable!
Try these fun, hands-on number sense activities with your preschooler or early elementary student to add some interactive fun to their learning.
Counting and Cardinality Number Sense Activities
Use these activities to give kids practice counting individual items and determining the number of items in a set (cardinality).
Digital Counting and Cardinality Games:
Numbers on the Fence
Practice counting 1 to 20 in this interactive game.
Show What You Know: Counting Things (1-10)
Count the items in each box and choose the one that represents the designated number.
More Counting and Cardinality Activities:
Count Everything:
Challenge your child to find things to count everywhere and anywhere, pointing to or touching each item as they go. Don’t forget to practice counting backwards–try this while putting toys away or counting down the days to a special event.
Number Scavenger Hunt:
Give your child a set of number cards for the numbers you’d like to practice. Ask them to find a set of something that matches each number. For instance, they might put the “2” card on a pair of shoes, or the “5” card on a bunch of five bananas.
Jump and Count:
Get some exercise while you practice! Count how many times you can jump in 15 seconds, then see if you can beat the record. You can try this one with any kind of physical activity.
Number Recognition and Number Sense Activities
These activities help children recognize written numerals (1, 2, 3) and number words (one, two, three), and make the connection between these representations and a corresponding set of items.
Digital Number Recognition & Number Sense Games:
Bubble Counter
Pop the bubbles as each number is called. This fast-moving game will keep kids on their toes!
Numbers and Their Names
Match the numerals 1 through 10 with their corresponding number words.
Number Tracing Worksheets
Grab these worksheets to give kids practice tracing and writing numerals from 1 to 100.
More Number Recognition Activities:
Number I Spy:
Play this classic kids’ game by looking for numerals and number words in the world around you. Say, “I spy with my little eye … the numeral 7.” Then see if your child can find it!
Bingo:
Make or buy a set of bingo cards that include the numbers you’d like to practice. Be sure to include “0” in the list! Then, face off to see who can get a complete row first.
Go Fish:
Here’s another classic kids’ game that’s all about recognizing numbers. Play with a special card set, or just remove the face cards from a standard deck.
Order and Comparison Number Sense Activities
These activities help children recognize written numerals (1, 2, 3) and number words (one, two, three), and make the connection between these representations and a corresponding set of items.
Digital Order & Comparison Games:
Can You Guess? More and Less
Compare amounts of items, including liquid in bottles and piles of fruit, to determine which is more and which is less.
Marvin’s Missing Balloons
Help Marvin put his balloons in order by reading and recognizing ordinal words from “first” to “tenth.”
Choo Choo Choose: More Than the Other
Choose the set that has more items than the others in this simple comparison game.
More Order & Comparison Activities:
Number Line and Hundreds Chart Puzzles:
Cut a number line or hundreds chart into pieces and see how quickly your child can put it back together in the right order.
Grab Bag Comparison:
Put small items like toys or snacks into several bags, then reach in and grab a handful from each. Count the items and determine which pile has more items and which has less.
Spatial Sense and Pattern Recognition Number Sense Activities
Spatial sense means understanding that the position of numbers gives them specific meaning, such as with place value. In pattern recognition, children learn to predict the next item in a sequence by looking at the previous items.
Digital Spatial Sense & Pattern Games:
Mole in One: Numbers
Use place value to compare two-digit numbers and determine which one is larger and which is smaller.
Plenty of Patterns
Determine the next item in each sequence of shapes and colors.
Shawna’s Pattern Bracelets
Help Shawna make beautiful bracelets for her friends with this pattern matching game.
More Spatial Sense & Pattern Activities:
Complete the Pattern:
Lay out shape blocks in a pattern (e.g. circle, square, triangle) and ask your child to figure out what comes next in the sequence. No shape blocks? Draw the shapes instead. Make things more difficult by changing the colors of the shapes too.
Base 10 Blocks:
Use these helpful math manipulatives to learn place value for ones and tens. You can buy a physical set or even make a paper set by cutting apart graph paper.
Bead Jewelry:
String beads in patterns to make your own necklaces and bracelets.
Estimating and Subitizing Number Sense Activities
Practice estimating and rounding with these fun activities. Plus, learn to subitize–recognizing the number of items in a small set without needing to count each one.
Digital Estimating & Subitizing Games:
Dinosaur Chomp
Compare the number of drops on each leaf and pick the odd one out. Drops are grouped in small sets to give kids practice subitizing.
Shawna’s Pitcher Party
Help Shawna prepare for her party by estimating the amount of liquid in each pitcher.
More Estimating & Subitizing Activities:
Roll the Dice:
The dots on dice are purposely grouped in patterns to make it easy to quickly recognize the number showing. Roll dice with your child and ask them to quickly say the numbers they see.
Compare and Estimate:
Take two containers of different shapes and ask your child to estimate which one will hold more water. Then fill them and measure the totals to see if they’re right.
Play with LEGOs:
The dots (called “studs”) on these bricks are terrific for subitizing practice. Pull a handful and ask your child to sort them quickly based on the number of studs on each.
Number Relationships and Number Sense Activities
Recognizing the relationships numbers have with one another encompasses a lot of skills. It includes concepts like greater than/less than/equal to, number families like odds and evens, number patterns (counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, etc.), and more. Here are some fun ways to practice.
Digital Number Relationship Games:
Evens and Odds With Ivan
Help Ivan and his mischievous dog build an automatic dog-washer by recognizing even and odd numbers.
Space Maze Escape
Count by 10s to make your way through the maze and help the spaceship escape.
Greater and Less Than at the Zoo
Compare two-digit numbers in this fun zoo-themed game for animal-lovers.
More Number Relationship Activities:
War:
In this card game favorite, players each flip a card from their pile, and the one with the larger number wins both cards. It’s perfect for number comparison activities!
Number Line Skip Counting:
Draw a life-size number line on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. Then, challenge your child to jump along it by skip counting–2, 4, 6, 8 or 3, 5, 7, 9. Kids will have lots of fun seeing how far they can jump between numbers!
Number Sort:
Sort number magnets or cards into evens and odds; multiples of two, three or five’ or any other number relationship you’d like to practice.
More ABCmouse Number Sense Activities and Lessons
ABCmouse’s math learning programs include both online and offline activities to build number sense and other important math concepts in young learners. Kids have fun watching videos, completing guided lessons, and playing games while getting the tailored practice they need to become fluent in number sense and more. Explore the ABCmouse math learning program and get started today!
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