Taking learning outdoors is a great way to get kids outside. I also have seen first hand how my own children focus more and are much more interested in activities like this outdoor number hunt for preschoolers than say worksheets. Learning outdoors are great outdoor activities for children.
This preschool maths activity is great for working on number recognition and number sequencing. My 3 year old loved this activity when I set it up for her the other day. She loved finding the numbers but she also loved hiding the numbers for me to find too.
Outdoor number hunt for preschoolers
Children love scavenger hunts. Whether it be hunting for nature, numbers or letters. I use scavenger hunts a lot with my girls. Both as a way to keep them focused and engaged on a walk or as a learning activity like this number hunt.
I love using seasons to influence our play and learning activities. I picked up a set of 10 large foam hearts thinking they would be good for a valentine’s day activity. My own preschooler is showing an interest in numbers so I decided to write the numbers 1 to 10 on the hearts.
This is another great maths activity for this age – spider counting activity.
I then hid the hearts around our garden and asked my daughter to find them for me. I asked her to tell me what each number was. If she got it wrong or didn’t know, then I told her. Together we counted them and also put them into the correct order.
Once she had found all the hearts I hid them again and we repeated the activity. Then she decided she wanted to hide the numbers for me to find. She loved hiding the numbers almost as much as she enjoyed finding them. I still used it as an opportunity to work on her recognising the numbers by showing them to her as I found them.
I know we will be repeating this activity over the coming weeks and months. I will be expanding the activity once she can do this easily by asking her to find the numbers in the correct order which will add memory skills too. I will also be asking her to find items to the value of each number to work on counting too.
You could also write letter on the hearts instead of numbers or even sight words. Find more 60 Fun Ways to Practice Sight Words at Home here
Outdoor number hunt for preschoolers
A simple and fun way to build number recognition with preschoolers. Make learning fun by taking it outside. All children love a treasure hunt so turn it into a learning opportunity.
Materials
- Large foam shapes. I used hearts but you can use any shape you like.
Tools
- Marker pen
Instructions
- Write the numbers 1 to 10 on your foam shapes.
- Hide the shapes around your garden, yard or even in a small area of your local park or woods.
- Let your preschooler find them.
- Talk about what each number is, count them and put them in order.
More Valentines day activities for kids
Find all our Valentine’s Day activities for kids here.
Find more Valentines Day Stem Activities for kids of all ages here.
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If you are looking for more preschool maths activities then this autumn preschool math activity is a good one.
If your child enjoys crafting why not make a simple DIY paper lantern and then you can go on an after-dark walk too.
Find more fun forest school activities here.
Want to share ideas with like-minded parents? Join Wildling Explores the free facebook group for parents who love to get their kids outdoors.
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