Many concepts such as ordinals are easier to put in a context in an engaging story. This means that it is easier to explain ordinal numbers, and to test if preschoolers have understood ordinals. Stories like "Hansel and Gretel" are suitable and you can talk about what the children did first and what happened next. By dividing the story into sequences, you promote the development of a foundation for ordinal numbers. Say things like "First, the children went into the woods." Reread the books and let preschoolers retell the story by looking at the pictures. Prompt them to use words like "The third thing that happened was that the children saw the house."
Promoting a healthy lifestyle is important and dancing to music, while learning about ordinals, is a suitable learning activity. Let preschoolers dance freely in the room. Stop the music and ask them to sit in a line on the mat. Mark spots on the carpet with tape to show them where to sit. Walk down the line and identify the preschoolers as first, second and third in the line. Let a preschooler copy you by walking down the line gently tapping her friends on their shoulders. Ask her to call out an ordinal number and the preschooler with that number is asked to stand up. Continue until all the preschoolers are standing.
There are wide selections of worksheets that can be used to help preschoolers learn the ordinal numbers (see Resources). If you are having a theme week about trees or dinosaurs, select a suitable worksheet with ordinal numbers where they have to match a cardinal number to its corresponding ordinal number. Repeating ordinal numbers with different work sheets throughout the year enhances preschoolers' learning. An engaging activity is to line up photos and pictures of animals or fruits. Place small note cards with numbers from 1 to 10 on a table. Let preschoolers take turns selecting the right card when you point to a picture and call out "Fifth."
Creating and looking at art promotes understanding of ordinal numbers. In advance, draw a thick line on papers. Let preschooler cut out animals, flowers or shapes and glue them onto the line. Prompt them to talk about their pictures using ordinal numbers. This helps to develop communication skills. It expands the vocabulary, and the memory for when they created the painting will help to deepen their learning. Combine a couple of pictures to make a longer line. Help them to say the ordinal numbers of a couple of pictures, and then combine a couple of new pictures.