Easy Kindergarten Math Activity

Hands-on activities keep kids engaged while learning. When I prepare activities for my kindergarten class, I try to find different ways to teach essential skills, such as counting and math. When I find an activity that not only reinforces these skills, but my students also love, I share it with you here on Play Learn Inspire. This Easy Kindergarten Math Activity not only keeps children engaged, it is also very easy to set up.

I love watching my students when they are at a center or activity and independently working on it. I love hearing them count and figure things out on their own. This counting activity ended up being one that they all enjoyed.

Grab some colorful pompoms, dice and chopsticks for this hands-on math activity.

Easy Kindergarten Math Activity Materials

One of the great things about this activity, is that if you teach in a kindergarten classroom, you probably already have all of the materials you need.

• Pompoms
• Chopsticks (Easy DIY stick instructions if you don’t have chopsticks available)
• Dice
• Containers

DIY Chopsticks

I had chopsticks at home that I brought into my classroom, however, this is one piece of this activity that not all classrooms may have access to.

However, you can easily make your own chopsticks using materials you are more likely to have on hand. Grab a few large popsicle sticks, an elastic and a firm pompom.

Set two popsicle sticks on top of each other. Tie an elastic around one end of the popsicle sticks and set a pompom near the end with the elastic. This will separate the sticks and create something similar to chopsticks.

These work really well and kids will love using these familiar materials in a whole new way.

Kindergarten Math Activity Set Up

One thing I love about this math activity is that you can set it up in minutes. Grab a large bowl and put a huge collection of pompoms in it. You can use any size and color combination. My students liked trying to grab certain colors and sizes which added to the fun.

If you use this activity for a specific occasion or celebration you can use certain colors to make the activity fit a theme, such as red and green pompoms for a Christmas celebration.

Set one die for each child doing the activity and a small container for each child.

Playing the Game

Children start by rolling their die and counting the number. Using their chopsticks, they move the same number rolled of pompoms into their container. You can set rules, such as only one pompom can be moved at a time and no hands can touch the pompoms. Continue until the container is full.

This activity develops fine motor and counting skills. Children have to correctly count the number on the die and then count again as they move the pompoms.

Kindergarten Math Activity Extension Idea

There are lots of small changes you can make to the game to use the idea again and again.

You can have children work in pairs, or as a group to fill their container. They each roll their die and add the pompoms, but work together to fill it. Make sure to use a large container if you are going to have children work together.

You can also have players work together and only use one die. This is a good strategy if you have young children who are still learning how to count. If players play as a group and roll one die, each player then has to count the same number of pompoms, they can count together, and then each add their pompoms to the container.

If your group is ready for larger numbers, try using two dice. Children roll the two dice, count all the dots and add this (larger) number.

Depending what container you use, you can mark a line on the container for children to fill to. Marking this line tends to make the game even more fun for kids because they’ll try different strategies to get the pompoms exactly to the line.

A final extension idea is once children have filled their container, you could support them in counting the total number of pompoms it took to fill their container. This could end up being a large number, but great practice for kids to do.

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There are lots of printables and center ideas to use in your classroom or home.