Alphabet and Number Seek and Find Mats - Back to School Buses

It's that time of year when we all start going back to school.  One thing that goes on in many preschool and kindergarten classrooms around this time is an evaluation of what letters and numbers your students already know so you can begin instruction where it is most beneficial for your students.  These back to school mats provide a fun, hands on way to introduce letters and numbers, or for students who already have learned to identify letters and numbers, this activity provides an engaging way for students to review this material.

There are a variety of ways to use these alphabet and number mats.  One of our favorite ways to use these mats is to use dot markers to record the letters we find.  Once a card is turned over (or found if you hide them in a sensory bin or around the room) is for students to use the dot marker to record which letter or number they saw.

Students can also simply color the number or letter they turn over or find.  This makes a great fine motor activity for students to practice staying in the lines.  

Adding bingo chips makes this a great table top center for students to work on independently.  Students will turn over a card then use a bingo chip to cover the correct letter or number.

Instead of bingo chips, you can use magnetic letters or numbers.  You can place this page on a cookie sheet to actually have the letter or number magnets stick.  With this activity, students will turn over the card, find the matching magnet and then match it to the number or letter on the mat.

If you want just a simple matching activity, you can just use the mats with magnets or mini erasers to match the letters on the mat.  In this picture my toddler would grab a magnetic letter and then find it on the school bus mat and place it on top.  

Another activity is a write and wipe activity.  This can make a great writing center for students who need some handwriting practice.  Students will turn over a card then trace the number they found.  This can also be a write the room activity where students walk around the room to find the number then trace it on their mats.

Skills Practiced with these Mats:

• Letter Recognition
• Number Recognition
• Handwriting
• Fine Motor Skills
• Hand Eye Coordination

Back to School Seek and Find Mats for Letters and Numbers

FOR A LIST OF ALL THE THEMES AVAILABE FOR THESE MATS CLICK THIS LINK

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Christmas Preschool Math Centers for Counting to 10

The preschool math centers for Christmas provide a variety of ways for preschoolers to practice counting to 10.  These colorful math centers are differentiated and adaptable for a variety of student needs.  I love using hands on math centers with my own kids because they seem to pick up the concepts more quickly and they have fun while completing the activities as well!

This activity helps students practice counting and number recognition.  Students will count the ornaments on the tree then place the correct number one top.  Not only does this make a great math center, it can also be placed in a busy binder for a quiet time activity.  

This activity is one of my kids' favorites.  They all love using connecting cubes with activities, so anything I can find to utilize them is always a win!  With this activity, they take the connecting cubes and stick them together and match their tower to the correct number according to how many cubes they used in building their tower.

Playdough mats are also always a hit with my kids.  The mats in this activity can be used with playdough or other manipulatives if you do not have playdough on hand.  Students simple create playdough balls (ornaments) to decorate their tree according to the number on the mat.  

These ten frames cards give students practice counting to 10.  Students will count the ornaments on the tree then fill each tens frame with the same number of manipulatives.  You can use mini erasers, bingo chips, small presents or any other small manipulative to fill in each square.

These tens frame cards also allow for students to use manipulatives to count to the number shown on each Christmas tree.  These counting cards fit perfectly inside a task box which allows them to be an easy to prep, use and clean up math center for young learners.  

Another great activity for a task box, these counting puzzle cards introduce the number words for zero through ten.  Students match the number piece with the tree that has the correct number of ornaments.  These puzzles make a great math center, morning tub activity or quiet time activity.

These Christmas counting clip cards also make a great task box center.  The cards and some clothes pins fit perfectly in these boxes.  Students will count the number of ornaments on each tree and use the clip to mark the correct number counted.  Not only do students get to practice counting to 10, they also get practice using those fine motor muscles.

The final activity in this counting packet are these counting puzzles.  These puzzles are differentiated to help students be successful on different levels.  One puzzle goes to 5 and the other foes to 10.  Students will get practice putting numbers in the correct order.

Check out all the themes these centers come in here:  Preschool Hands On Math Centers for Counting to 10

CHIRSTMAS PRESCHOOL MATH CENTERS

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Pencil Addition Puzzles

My oldest daughter loves to do puzzles.  When she was in Kindergarten, I would try to make as many puzzle activities as I could to help her practice the different concepts we were working on.  These addition pencils was just one of the activities I made for her to practice her addition facts.  

These pencil puzzles make a great math center for kindergarten or first grade.  When I used them with my daughter, I would just give her a set of pencils and ask her to put them together as she solved the problems.  

She would always line them up in a long straight line as she solved each addition fact.  She would end up having a line of puzzles from our front door all the way into our living room!  I know she loved the fact that these puzzles were hands on and allowed her to demonstrate her knowledge of addition facts without having to write all the answers down on a sheet of paper.  

I have recently learned about task boxes, so I have been going back through my older items and organizing them into these task boxes.  My pencil puzzles fit perfectly into the task boxes I have purchased.  This allows for easy center storage and easy center set up!  I can now just pull out the box and the center is ready for my child to use (my third child is currently in kindergarten and just learning to add).  Besides task boxes, these cards can be used as a small group activity, a table top center or as an independent math center for students to practice on their own or with a partner.

Back to School Addition Pencil Puzzles

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