Toddler Counting Activity with Five Frames

Cosette has been so into counting lately (The Count is her favorite Sesame Street character!) so I set up a simple activity to practice with her in a different way. Check out this interactive toddler counting activity that is so simple but has so many benefits for your little one!

Toddler Counting Activity with Five Frames

This activity will look different depending on your child’s age. Coco is not quite two, so we did a lot more exploration. An older child may be able to show you different numbers independently in the five frame.

Materials:

Masking Tape
Five Apples

Use the masking tape to set up a “Five Frame” on the floor. Hardwood or carpet would work fine!

Activity:

Start by showing your little one how to fill the five frame by placing an apple in one at a time in each box. I let Coco explore for a while, and she enjoyed putting the apples in and out of the five frame, one at a time. Then I started showing her how to fill it in going from the left to right, and counting each as you go. We spent about 15-20 minutes just doing this, exploring with the apples and five frame, and counting.

With a 2 or 3 year old, you may extend this and have them show you a given number on the five frame. They can practice adding or removing apples to show a certain number.

Why we do it:

Even though this toddler counting activity seems so simple, it has so many benefits!

One to one correspondence: This means kids can attach one number to one object and it’s an initial counting skill.
Number sense
Using five as a benchmark number
Place value

Engaging in activities like this early on builds a strong math foundation! At this age, she can’t explain all of these things, but she’s learning to connect numbers to objects and how to fill in the five frame. As she gets older, she’ll be able to get better at showing me certain numbers by adding and taking away objects from the frame.

Let me know what you think of this toddler counting activity!