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Easter Number Sense Games for Preschoolers and Toddlers

Easter number sense games for preschoolers and toddlers

Some of my favorite learning activities are the ones I can set up for my kids then walk away from while they have fun. Yep, even STEM loving moms like to encourage their children to play by themselves.

I have found that you can take a lot of regular toys and turn them into math games. It is great one two levels.

One, you get to reignite interest in old toys. No need to buy anything new!

Two, you are teaching your kids how to use what they have AND that most objects can have multiple uses. This inspires creativity.

Since we are all about Easter right now, the only logical toys to use for math games are Easter eggs. (Trust me, Easter math is fun.)

picture of easter eggs with matching numbers written on them

Easter Number Sense Games

The materials for this STEM activity is pretty clear. You need plastic eggs, the kind that are in two separate pieces. If you don’t have any, I do suggest getting some. My kids play with them year round.

I got my eggs at the Dollar Store, but Target and Amazon have them for pretty cheap.

You’ll want a dry erase marker too.

Why Does Number Sense Matter?

What is number sense? Kids need to learn how to count, that much we know for sure. But they need more than that.

Number sense is understanding that each number has a unique value, and those values can interact with each other. This understanding is the basis for all future math.

(Learn more about number sense and get easy activities: Simple Number Sense for Toddlers and Preschoolers)

Simple Matching

The first game is simple number matching. Write the same number on each part of the egg. Then mix them up and let your kids match the numbers back up!

This is a good one for toddlers just learning their numbers.

You can add to the challenge by changing up the colors of the eggs so the two halves might have the same number, but are not the same color. This forces your children to really look at the numbers and not just rely on the colors.

Value Matching

The next level is to work on recognizing that numbers have a distinct value. So write a number on one half of an egg and then draw that many dots on the other half.

The goal of this is to reinforce not only what the numbers are, but the values they represent.

Basic Addition

Ben is working on this as a preschooler. Write a number on one half of an egg, then put a simple addition problem that adds up to that number on the other half. Instant math challenge.

picture of colorful easter eggs with math equations written on them.

Basic Subtraction

Subtraction can be harder to understand, especially because the order the numbers are in is more important. (For example, 2+3 is the same as 3+2. But 3-2 is very different from 2-3.) Start small and build to harder questions.


More Activities To Try

Easter Egg Rocket! Enjoy this Easter STEM activity for kids and learn about basic chemical reactions. Easy, creative STEAM learning. #EasterEggRocket #STEAM #LearningActivity #EasterSTEM Team-Cartwright.com
Easy and fun games the boost counting skills in preschoolers! Help your preschooler work on number sense with these simple and fun games. (Plus get some free printables!) #NumberSense #LearningGames #CountingGames #preschool #HomeschoolMath #PreschoolMath #PreschoolLearning Team-Cartwright.com
Free printables to help your child learn shapes! Shapes are the building blocks of literacy and math skills. Enjoy these free worksheets! #free #printables #shapes #learning #activity #toddler #preschooler Team-Cartwright.com

Number Memory Game

If you don’t want to write on your eggs you can still create a fun game.

Write numbers all over a poster board or pieces of paper. Then cover them up with plastic egg halves.

Your children can take turns looking under two eggs at a time. If the numbers match they can keep the egg pieces and go again!

Shape Matching

Don’t think you have to stick to numbers! Try drawing shapes on each half of the egg and having your children match them up.

Take it a step further and draw a shape on one half of an egg, and on the other put the number of sides that shape has. So a match would be 3 and a triangle, or 4 and a rectangle.

picture of easter eggs with matching letters, shapes, and numbers for toddler learning

Even More Learning Games

Now the focus of this series is STEM, but don’t be afraid to take this idea and work on other skills with it!

Write letters on your eggs. Match just the letters or work on matching capital letters with their corresponding lower case letters.

You can match site words. Or work on rhyming. There are a surprising number of uses for plastic Easter eggs.

4 Pictures of Easter egg math learning activities with number matching and text overlay: Easy and Fun Easter Number Sense Games

10 Days of Easy Easter STEM

Don’t forget to come back for all the fun activities we are doing!  You can check out the list here.  Links will go live as the activities go up.

10 Days of Easter STEM

STEM

Remember that STEM stands for:

Science: Where toddlers and preschoolers learn to observe and start to understand how the world around them works. This is where kids learn to ask questions.

Technology: Where children learn to use the tools that help them explore this world. Yes, computers and screens are a part of this, but they are not the whole story. Simple tools like scissors and magnifying glasses are a part of it too.

Engineering: Where children start to explore how things work. It’s building things like towers, and it is taking things apart to see how they fit together.

Math: Where children learn counting and number recognition. This is where we lay the groundwork of number sense. Number sense is the basic understanding that numbers have individual values and these values interact.

-Kim
picture of plastic Easter eggs with text overlay: Number Sense Games using Easter Eggs Easy Math for preschoolers
picture of Easter eggs with numbers and letters written on them and text overlay: Easy and Fun Easter Math for preschoolers and toddlers
Simple number sense games using easter eggs
Fun uses for plastic easter eggs after easter for kids

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