2 Fun ways to work on counting and learning numbers using the free leaf printable.
Learning about numbers in a PLAYFUL way!
Learning to count and recognise numbers can be done in so many fun and hands on ways using different materials. Here you will see 2 examples of ways that our number leaves can be used in a fun and playful way to support your child's learning. Learning can most definitely be fun and enjoyable!
*IMPORTANT: Please note - These idea is recommended for children ages 3+ as they contain small parts, which are a choking hazard. Always supervise all play.
Ideas for using the free number leaves printable
Playdough Flowers
These playdough flowers were a fun way to explore numbers and counting, while having fun playing with playdough too.
What we used:
Playdough (homemade in the Thermomix)
Rolling pin
Petal shapes cut out from cardboard
Leaf numbers printable (see below)
Tray of loose parts - we used pipe cleaners, pop sticks, gemstones, coloured chickpeas (painted with metallic crayola paints), pom poms etc.
Sunflower cutter (Kinfolk Pantry) - optional not needed if making own flowers.
Some of the learning happening here:
Recognising numerals 1-20.
Counting quantities to 20.
Matching numerals to quantities
Developing fine motor skills through playdough, moving the loose parts chickpeas etc
Creativity - using the playdough to create dragonflies, using the loose parts to decorate the flowers
Plus so much more ....
Tips for supporting learning:
Start with where your child is at e.g. you might just use numbers to 5 to begin with, then extend to 10 as your child is more familiar with these numbers, finally moving onto bigger numbers.
Miss 6 liked to put the chickpeas onto the flowers, then count how many and find the matching number leaf. She said this was more fun than counting out the chickpeas to match number leaf.
Use whatever loose parts you have at home (or in your classroom). This could be done with buttons, beads etc.
Stems could be made from green playdough or by cutting green strips of paper.
Allow your child to play with this in any way that they like. They may just explore playing with the playdough or they might enjoy counting. There is not right or wrong way to play with an invitation such as this.
Number Match 1-20
Here are a few more ideas of how you might use these number leaf cards. In the photo above I set up a tray with the leaf cards, Freckled Frog number discs (1-20), and some of our Grapat Mandala pieces.
What if I don't have these resources?
You could make number discs to match with some cardboard and a marker. Any loose parts could be substituted for the mandala pieces or blocks for counting.
Numeral Matching
Here we used number discs to match the numerals with those on the number leaves. Adding in some Grapat mandala pieces, allowed for some counting too! Any counters or loose parts could be used.
Missing Number
Hide a number from your child and get them to work out what the missing number is.
What numbers are missing from the number line?
Here we just used the leaf numbers and I removed a couple and placed a Grapat mandala piece in. Miss 6 worked out what numbers were missing. She really enjoyed this and asked to play again and again.
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Free Leaf Numbers to 30 Printable
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Tips:
I printed out the smallest leaves (on pages 8 and 9) on regular A4 printing paper to use for our playdough flowers and for the number games in the photos above. They would work better printed onto white cardboard to make them stronger, or possibly laminated if using many times over with a class of children.
These could be used in many different ways - from counting, to ordering, to skip counting, there are many possibilities for learning in a fun and hands on way.
Thank you for reading this blog post.
I hope you found some inspiration for using these leaf numbers in a playful way with your own child/ren or with those that you teach.
If you do enjoy using these number leaves, I would love to know - either comment below or tag me on Instagram @our.playful.learning.journey so I can see all the fun!
Until next time, have fun learning in a playful way!
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