Teaching math to preschoolers doesn’t require worksheets or pressure—it happens naturally through play and everyday moments. On this page, you’ll find simple, hands-on tips to help a child build number sense, recognize patterns, compare sizes, and develop early problem-solving skills. With a little intention and a lot of fun, math can become a confident and joyful part of the day.
• Help with laundry and match socks.
• Gather a bucket of shoes and match pairs.
• Match various lids with pots, pans, and dishes.
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Dawn suggested this book for teaching money.
• Develop patterns through beading (Lacing Beads).
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Using candy corn and candy pumpkins, make patterns. This images shows ABB (left to right) or AAB (right to left) patterns.
• Create patterns using different colors and shapes for review.
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Winter Patterns - Create patterns using the Winter Images
• Battleship 
• Make patterns using the game Connect Four, Checkers, or different colored post-it notes
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Spring Patterns - Create ABB patterns using the Spring Images.
• At snack time, create a pattern using two different snacks
Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett contains only five words: apple, pear, orange, bear -- and there. Rearranging the words into different patterns, the simplicity of this book allows for learning in rhyming, patterns, and smiles.
• Create a pile of candy corn and pumpkin candies. Instruct the child to sort the two candies.
• A muffin tin makes a fun place to sort small items during meal preparations.
• Measuring cups in the bathtub are great fun and can be used to teach size.
• Using a bag of various beans for soup, let the child sort them into a muffin tin.
• Using train track pieces, sort the different shapes and lengths of pieces.
• Sort play food into vegetables, fruits, milk/dairy, meat or pantry, refrigerator, freezer; if you don't have play food, you can also use pictures of food.
• Sort UNO Cards
Print the Frogs Spatial Concept Printable on green paper. Cut out. Place sticky tack on the back of each frog.
Place a brown “log” made of construction paper on a larger board or mat. (We used an easil.)
Call out a spatial word (i.e. under, left) and have the child place the frogs around the log to correctly represent the concept.
Above, Under, Left, Behind...
Print the Spatial Tree . Color the leaves using fall colors. Cut the leaves out. Place sticky tack on the backs of each leaf.
Post the tree on the wall. Call out a spatial word (i.e. under, left) and have the child place the leaves around the tree to correctly represent the concept.
• Place item in relationship to a hula-hoop.
• Use toys or stuffed animals to place spatially with a chair or the child.
• Using a bridge or box, drive toy cars or tractors around, on, under, etc the bridge.
| High, Low | Up, Down | Above, Below |
| Beside, Next To, Between | Before, After | Around, through |
| Behind, In back, In Front | Left, right | On, off |
| First, Middle, Last | Top, Middle, Bottom | Near, Far |
| Under, over |
Lay a pile of 40 M&M's on the table. Write the name of each color on the bottom of the M&M Graphing worksheet (red, blue, green, yellow, brown, orange). Write the numbers 1-15 up the lefthand column. Sort the M&M's by color. Start with one color and count the number of M&M's in that pile. Show the child how to graph the number of M&M's. When finished, write the total number of each color on the graph. Then count the total on the graph to make sure 40 M&M's are accounted for.
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