Tot Explorations: Counting with Stamps

I think my first Tot Exploration post was this one about Stamping on Target – developing eye-hand coordination.

Since my son has improved his counting lately (1-10 is down pat, and he’s pretty good with 11-20), I wanted to help him refine his skills, so I created a spin-off activity that involves counting.

One thing he does when we count items is jab his fingers fast at each item, so he usually over or under counts because he’s going too fast. Or, he’ll keep counting PAST the number of items, because he gets so excited, he can’t stop himself! LOL!

To slow him down, I designed this simple Counting Chart worksheet that adds a motor skill aspect to his counting. (Feel free to download and use as you wish).

He stamps one time in each circle to “count” the circles. I found the focused stamping slows his counting down considerably. When he hits the end of the row and there are no more circles to stamp, he learns to stop counting as well.

It’s fun for him to have this motor skill activity to do while counting. Also the visual stamp each time he counts a number helps him recognize which circles he’s already counted.

You’d think this worksheet would get old after awhile, but truly, we’ve gone through several of these sheets – one or two a day, and with my supervision. Next step, I’m going to try having him put a small sticker in each circle while he counts.

Have any counting activities to share?