Are you looking for an easy way to help students practice counting and number recognition with a clever butterfly math activity? Our FREE butterfly counting mats are a great way to help children from preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten age childre practice learning numbers 1 to 10. Simply print pdf file with butterfly printables and you are ready to play and learn!
counting butterflies worksheets
As you know our students need loads of practice when they start learning how to count to 10. It is one of those set of skills that appears simple, but it involves learning a lot of different things. Using fun butterfly printables allowes preschoolers and kindergartners to make math fun with a butterfly theme! They must
- Learn how our numbering system works and memorize the standard order of numbers.
- Understand one to one correspondence. (Each object in a group can be counted once and only once).
- Grasp the idea of cardinality. (When you count the items in a set, the last number tells you the quantity of objects in that set.)
- Discover that as you count forward the quantity increases by one. This seems so obvious, but that is because we have years of practice!
- Learn to read and recognize both numbers and numerals.
- Understanding what those numbers or numerals symbolize. You can count 3 blocks or 3 apples and say “three.” Or you can show the numeral 3 and say the name. It doesn’t matter what you are counting, how you count stays the same.
Not as simple as it seems right? Fortunately most Kindersstudents master this skill. Still they need a lot of hands on learning to get there. It is helpful to have a wide variety of activities. It keep things fresh and each one will approach counting in a slightly different way. With this in mind, we have created a FREE butterfly math counting mat for your students.
butterfly counting worksheet
Start by scrolling to the bottom of the post, under the terms of use, and click on the text link that says >> _____ <<. The butterfly math activities for preschool pdf file will open in a new window for you to save the freebie and print the template.
butterfly math worksheets
These mats provide extra practice for counting numerals 1-10 and number recognition for the numbers one to ten. You can use them for early finishers, math centers, or even suggest parents make a set for extra practice.
The counting sheets provides practice in the following number concepts.
- Counting numbers 1-10
- Recognizing numbers 1-10 in word and numeral form
There are also options to practice different ways of composing a number.
The counting mats work well with this age group because they involve the use of manipulatives. Anything our students can pick up, handle, and move around will help build pathways in their brains.
butterfly math activities for preschoolers
You will receive a pdf file containing
- 10 Butterfly counting mats featuring numbers 1-10
- Two sheets of butterfly counters. One with numbers and one without. These sheets are provided in color and black and white.
How to Prepare the Counting Mats
- Print the counting mats onto cardstock. (See link below)
- Laminate for durability.
- Grab some small butterfly manipulatives for counting.
You can use the cards we’ve provided, but any butterfly manipulative will work. I love these butterfly pony beads and buttons. If you prefer you can skip the butterfly theme and go with flowers, ladybugs or bingo chips. Whatever works best.
If you use the common core, this activity covers the following standard. Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
printable numbers 1 10
You can use this printable in a variety of ways and pitch the activities to help students at different levels. Don’t you just love printables that give you different options?
For Students That Need To Practice Numbers 1-10
Beginners can practice counting numbers 1-10. They simply look at the number on the mat and count out that number of butterflies. The manipulatives can be placed anywhere on the mat.
- Students can also use playdough to form the number if they wish.
- You could also invite children to find other manipulatives and count them out as well. What do 7 butterflies-ladybugs-blocks-pompoms-candies look like?
- Use dry erase markers to practice writing the number on the mat. Children could also draw their own butterflies.
For Those That Can Already Count Numbers 1-10
Children can start to decompose the number and find ways to make the number on the mat. You will need the numbered butterflies and some other manipulatives. Use the mats with the higher numbers. Anything over 6 will work well.
Show them the cards with the number butterflies. Explain that the number of dots on the wings is the same as the number on the card. If they are working on the number 7, ask them to find the butterfly with 7 spots. Place it on the mat. Ask
Can you think of another way to make 7?
Invite them to count out 7 manipulatives. Move 2 aside and think out loud.
“Here we have 7 butterflies. If we make one set of 2 how many are left? 1,2,3,4,5 there are 5 left. So, 2 and 5 make 7.”
Have children find the butterflies with 2 and 5 spots and place them on the mat. Ask: “Can you think of another way to make 7?”
You will probably get some suggestions. If not, suggest switching the two groups around, so you have 5 and 2. Count the total and exclaim, “5 and 2 also make 7.”
Continue thinking aloud “Let’s start with 7 again. Now make a set of 3. How many are left? 1,2,3,4 there are 4 left. So, 3 and 4 make 7. Once again find the butterflies with 3 and 4 spots and place them on the mat. Ask Are there any other ways make 7?”
Keep going until you have figured out as many variations as possible. Obviously the higher the number, the more combinations there will be.
Butterfly Activities for Kids
Looking for more fun butterfly activities, butterfly crafts, and butterfly printables to add to your day or butterfly theme? Try these:
- Butterfly Math – addition mats for pre-k and kindergarteners
- Number Sense butterfly activities for preschoolers
- Free printable Butterfly missing addend game for Kindergarten
- Count to 10 Butterfly Math Ten Frame Punch Cards
- Butterfly Addition Puzzles
- Kindergarten Butterfly Addition and Subtraction Worksheets
- Free Counting Butterflies Worksheets
- FREE Printable Butterfly Life Cycle Worksheets
- Butterfly Life Cycle Worksheet Pack for kids
- Life Cycle of a Butterfly Worksheet and Observation Book
- B is for Butterfly activities for toddler and preschoolers
- Butterfly Puzzles Printable Rhyming Games
- Free printable Butterfly Life Cycle Printables
- Try this crafty science project to make stunning chromatography butterflies
- Tissue Paper Butterfly Craft for Kids
- 29 Pretty Butterfly Crafts for Kids
- Shaving Cream Butterfly Craft
- Butterfly Life Cycle Crafts w/ Free Printables
- Cute Bowtie Pasta Butterfly Craft for Kids
- Pasta Butterfly Crafts for Kids
- Butterfly Suncatcher Craft
- Simple Toilet Paper Roll Butterfly Craft for Kids
- Pop-up Butterfly Craft
- Pasta butterfly craft
Kindergarten Math
Looking for more free kindergarten math printables and fun math activities for kindergartners? We’ve got lots of fun kindergarten math:
- Pirate I Spy Worksheets are a really fun way for kindergartners to work on counting and visual discriminiation skills!
- Farm Animals I Spy Printables
- Bugs I Spy Worksheets
- Summer Kindergarten Math Worksheets
- Zoo Animals Color by Number Worksheets
- Ocean Color by Number Printable
- Hundreds Chart Battleship
- Dinosaur Color by Number Printable Worksheets
- Very Hungry Caterpillar Color by 100s Chart
- Sleeping Beauty Color by Addition
- Gingerbread Man Sequencing Worksheets
- Cut and Paste Sequencing with There was a cold lady who swallowed some snow pdf
- Count and Trace with Candy Pumpkin Printables
- Kite Skip Counting Math Craft (free printable!)
- Sandcastle Math Subtraction Craft (freebie)
- 100 Number Sense Activities and Games
Kindergarten Math Printables
- What Comes Next Math Pencil Strips
- Farm Do a Dot Printables Numbers – use bingo daubers to make numbers 1-10, count farm animals, and trace numbers too
- Dinosaur Math Worksheets for practicing a variety of math skills
- Snowman Place Value Worksheets
- Polar Animals Skip Counting Worksheets
- Star Wars Number Tracing
- Free Printable Writing Number Worksheets
- Teaching about currency with Money Puzzles
- Learning about Coins Money Sorting Mat
- Hot Dog Number Words Activity
- Kindergarten Shapes Worksheets
- Shape Do a Dot Printables
- Super cute Goldfish Addition
- Count and smash Bugs Counting to 30 Worksheets
- Free Sticky Number Bonds Kindergarten Worksheets
- Polar Express Telling the Time Worksheets
- Kindergarten Summer Pool Beach Balls Count and Trace Numbers 1-20
- 70 Fun and FREE Kindergarten Math Games
- Super cute, Free Printable Coloring Calendar 2021
Plus, don’t miss our other FREE kindergarten worksheets and games including THOUSANDS kindergarten worksheets FREE, learn your letters with our Kindergarten Alphabet worksheets, print kindergarten math worksheets or play a kindergarten math game, try an easy kindergarten science experiment, make a cute kindergarten craft, plan your week with our kindergarten themes, grab one of our many kindergarten social studies worksheets, learn to read with word family activities. plus lots of kindergarten sight words activities! We have everything you need for a complete kindergarten homeschool curriculum! Visit 123homeschool4me if you are looking for even more free worksheets or Preschool Play and Learn for preschool worksheets
butterfly printable
By using resources from my site you agree to the following:
- You may print as many copies as you ‘d like to use in your classroom, home, or public library.
- Please share by linking to this page. This product may NOT be sold, hosted, reproduced, or stored on any other site (including blog, Facebook, Dropbox, 4sShared, Mediafire, email, etc.)
- All materials provided are copyright protected. Please see Terms of Use.
- I offer free printables to bless my readers AND to provide for my family. Your frequent visits to my blog & support purchasing through affiliates links and ads keep the lights on so to speak. Thanks you!
Thank you, Beth! I was looking for a playdough counting mat with a little summer pizz-zazz! These will work well for my Back-to-School BOOT CAMP in August. We want to have fun with numbers. This will work with children who need assistance actually “writing” the number and those who need help with one-to-one correspondence and telling the number in the whole bunch. Thank you so much!
Awesome, so glad we can help!