Counting is a fundamental skill that all children need to learn at one point or another, but as a parent or teacher of young children, the same question always seems to come up: how? The answer? Through a fun and engaging game, the quickest way straight to your little one’s heart! Let’s take a look at five of the best educational creative counting games for young kids.
1. Exact Change
Exact Change is a card game designed to teach kids one of the most fundamental day-to-day skills: counting money. The game plays similar to Uno, with the goal being to play all your cards before anyone else. You can play a card either by matching it to the last card played, or knock out several cards at once by matching the money value of the last card played with your loose change cards. It’s a fun and engaging experience that also teaches an invaluable life skill, so it’s a solid choice all around.
2. Hopscotch
Believe it or not, this classic playground game has a fair amount of educational value in and of itself. While the main focus is on balance and speed, children typically go through the hopscotch squares in numerical order, reading out the number of the square as they touch it. Naturally, this teaches the fundamentals of counting, giving children a sense of order to base their future math skills on.
3. Count Your Chickens!
Count Your Chickens! is a fun, non-competitive board game that teaches children basic counting skills as part of a quest to help the mama chicken find her lost chicks within the time limit. Players determine how far they move by spinning a wheel, then pick up a number of chicks equal to the number of spaces they moved, and win by collecting all the chicks before the mama chicken makes it back home. It’s fun, it’s simple, and it’s educational, so what’s not to love?
4. Activity Dice Game
Activity dice games are an incredibly versatile way to teach kids about counting. Simply assign a certain activity like making a funny face or doing their favorite dance to each face of the die, have them count up the results of each roll, and then enjoy the fun activities that follow!
5. Uno
Finally, there’s Uno. While it may just seem like a fun activity to us adults, to kids, it’s a great way to learn how to match numbers and recognize shapes, colors, and patterns. In addition to being a family game night classic, the skills this game can teach make it an instant mainstay at the table of countless households.
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