Toddler Math: Cheerio Counting

A simple activity to reinforce the understanding of counting, recognizing numbers and number representation.

Printable Math Counting Page

Print Cheerio Math sheet on a piece of Construction Paper if you want to display or keep for a while.

Elmers or Craft Glue

Marker

Cheerios in a Small Container

1. Print out the Counting Page provided or draw your own.
2. Write the number you want to focus on, in or under each of the circles.
3. Put a handful of cheerios in a small container or plate.
4. Have your child count out the cheerios he/she needs for one circle. Line the cheerios up for easier counting.

5. Place glue on the circle and glue on the cheerios.

6. Let dry.

7. When dry, point and count simultaneously to help build one to one correspondence. Display for your child to view.

For older toddlers, you can make larger numbers as shown in the photo above.

If you are keeping this as a display, you might want to use thicker paper like construction. If this is a daily activity to practice numbers 1-10 you can just print on xerox paper.

A fun Cheerio Activity book that the girls enjoyed was The Cheerios Play Book and The Cheerios Animal Play Book (Cheerios Play Book)

Numbers and Number Sense

Counting

Recognize (Read) Numbers

Represent (How many is three?)

Quantity (More, Less, Equal)

Graphing (Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability)

Data Gathering (Collecting information about objects by drawing pictures or making picture graphs)

Use other items like small beans, other holiday candies, pasta, etc.

The reason counting activities are very important is because it helps to develop the three aspects of numbers.

1. Counting in a sequence out loud: 1,2,3, etc.
2. Understanding how much is 3 and being able to show or give three items.
3. Recognizing and writing numbers.