Backyard Counting with Nature Activity
Get outside with this preschool math activity. Grab some chalk and head to the backyard for a simple counting game using items from nature.
Preschool Math: Counting with Nature
You’ll need a piece of chalk and an area of your patio, driveway, or sidewalk.
Draw circles on the concrete and write numbers inside them. Start with numbers 1-10 or work on larger numbers if your child is ready.
Call out a number and ask your child to find that number. (I recommend going in numerical order unless your child is ready to mix it up.) Say, “Can you find the number 1? Run to the number 1.”
Go over each of the numbers in the number circles. Have your child repeat the numbers or count up to each number.
Next, we’ll add in a bit of nature to the activity. You’ll need access to items in nature from your backyard. Look around and see what will work. Do you have grass, leaves, sticks, rocks, flowers, seeds, or similar nature finds?
Ask your child to go find items from nature to fill your number circles. For the number 1, they need one item from nature. This is where they will practice counting with nature items.
For the number 2, they need two items and so forth. You’ll want to set some ground rules for where they can get the items. Is it okay to pick flowers or leaves from your garden? What about dandelions? Maybe they should only look for items already on the ground.
You could add to the scavenger hunt by giving your child a specific list of items to find. Go find 3 yellow dandelion flowers.
Bring back 4 maple leaves.
You could also have a stash of nature finds ready for them to count with. From the pile of dandelion leaves, can you place 5 leaves in the circle?
Count out 6 maple tree seeds from this group here.
The goal of this counting with nature activity is to practice number recognition and counting while using items from nature.
You can also incorporate learning about the nature finds. Does your child know the names of the nature items she found?
More Outdoor Math Activities for Kids
Take your chalk and go on a number walk around the neighborhood. It’s a fun way to practicing writing numbers while moving.
Instead of using concrete, write on leaves with this leaf math game from NurtureStore.
Practice addition with rocks with this outdoor math activity from Creative Family Fun.
