Use this noncompetitive cake-themed game to foster an understanding of one-to-one correspondence. Print out or draw pictures of cakes and write a number on each one. Draw images of birthday candles on construction paper and cut them out. Encourage children to place the same number of birthday candles on top of each cake that corresponds to the numbers printed on the cakes. For example, children should place five candles on top of a cake that has the number five printed on it.
This game reinforces letter-sound recognition in preschool children. Have children sit on the floor in a circle and provide them with a picture of a cake or a stuffed toy cake. The first child holding the cake says the letter "A," then passes the cake to the person sitting on her right, who says "B." Have the children pass the cake around the circle and go through the alphabet until you say stop.
At "stop," the person holding the cake must say a word that begins with the letter they stated. For example, if the person holding the cake said "D," he might choose "dog." If the person is unable to provide a word, classmates may help. The cake is then passed to the next player for the next letter of the alphabet. Continue playing until you have reviewed all the letter sounds you wish.
The aim of this cake-themed game is to promote recognition of upper- and lowercase letters. On index cards, draw two sets of cakes and write uppercase letters on one set and lowercase letters on the other. Place the uppercase letter cakes face up on the floor and place the lowercase cakes in a face-down pile.
Children take turns turning over a face-down card, then trying to find the cake on the floor that matches the card he has turned over. For example, if the child flips over a lowercase "a" card, he must find the uppercase "A" card. If the player is unable to make a match, the card is placed on the bottom of the pile and the next player takes a turn. The child who has the most matches when all cakes have been matched wins the game.
Develop the premath skill of sorting with this game. Print out or draw a variety of cakes in different sizes and colors. Set the cakes in a pile and encourage children to sort the cakes based on the attribute you choose. For example, the first sort may be based on color, in which children place the same colored cakes in the same pile, and the second sort may be based on size, in which children sort small, medium and large cakes in matching piles.