Transform egg cartons into a math activity that teaches youngsters about the amount of items represented by a printed number. Choose plastic beads or colored paper clips as the featured manipulative for the lesson. Write the numbers one through 12 on the bottom of the egg cups inside the open cartons. Pass a paper muffin-cup liner full of beads or paper clips to each child. Call a number between one and 12. Ask the children to place that number of items into the correct egg cup. Continue until all the egg cups are filled with the correct number of manipulatives.
Make a graph sheet for each child in your pre-school class. Draw two horizontal lines on a sheet of 12-inch-by-18-inch card stock to create three equal columns. Draw a circle at the top of each column. Color one circle red, one yellow and one blue. Give each child a pile of red, yellow and blue plastic bricks. Ask the children to place the bricks in rows in the correct columns. When the children have sorted and placed the bricks, count the bricks in each row. Point out that the row with the greatest number of bricks is the longest and the row with the least bricks is the shortest.
Make sets of 10 counter cards, allowing for one per child, from 5-inch-by-8-inch index cards. Buy stickers to place on the cards, domino-style, so the sets contain one card for numbers one through 10. Write the corresponding number on each card. Give each child a set of the cards and 10 plastic bean counters or counting cubes. Choose miniature marshmallows or small candies for counters to add a treat to the activity. Let the children count the correct number of items, then place them on the counter cards.
Draw a simple spider web then copy it onto 8-inch-by-10-inch sheets of black card stock. Make one for each child. On a poster-size piece of black card stock, write the numbers one through 10 with a silver permanent marker. Buy plastic spiders or spider rings, allowing for 10 per child. Pass a web and 10 spiders to each child. Dim the lights in your room so it is darker, but light enough where the children can still see the webs and spiders. Tape the number poster to a wall. Shine a flashlight on one of the numbers, Ask the children to count and then place the matching amount of spiders onto their webs.