Does your preschooler like googly eyes? My daughter LOVES them, so I put some to good use in an activity to work on her number recognition, counting and number ordering skills.
If I had to name one craft supply that I couldn’t live without, it would definitely be googly eyes (with bubble wrap coming a close second!). Googly eyes are such a fun and frivolous item to use in arts and crafts activities with your kids. My own kids can’t get enough of them in our activities (I have to buy them in bulk now!).
They are not just good for arts and crafts activities though, they also make an ideal maths manipulative, which are perfect to engage preschoolers in some learning fun.
- Muffin Tin
- Number cards 1-6
- Googly Eyes
How to play Googly Eye Number Match
Begin by looking at the number cards with your preschooler and talk abut the different numbers on each of the cards.
Then ask them to place the numbers into the holes in the muffin tin in the correct order. Don’t worry if they don’t manage to do this the first time around.
Pour googly eyes into a dish or onto the table and point to one of the numbers in the tin and ask your child to count out the correct number of googly eyes into the numbered hole in the muffin tin.
Repeat the activity for as long as your child is willing. Encourage them as much as you can along the way and work together when they are struggling.
You can then bring the activity out again another day and maybe use a different math manipulative in place of the googly eyes. Here is a great list of ideas for Math Manipulatives.
Picking up the small googly eyes with their little fingers is also a really useful fine motor skills workout for them. Developing strong pincer grip is essential for developing good pencil control and helps them to do tasks such as fastening clothes and cutting up their food independently.