Start the school year off right by making these cute counting cards featuring a Halloween theme. Your preschooler may be beginning to learn basic skills such as number recognition, counting, and simple operations. Encourage her to get creative and design her own set of ghoulish ghost counting cards that will help her learn her numbers.
What You Do:
- Cut the card stock into equal-sized rectangles. This is a great opportunity to talk to your child about geometry concepts such as shape as well as fractions.
- Write a number (start with one to ten) on one side of each card with a marker. If your child can write the numbers herself, allow her to. If not, try writing the number lightly in pencil and having your child trace over it with the marker.
- Pour a small amount of white tempera paint onto the palette or tray.
- Have your child dip her finger into the paint. Firmly press her finger on to one side of the card stock to make a ‘ghost’ print.
- Repeat for each card. The number of 'fingerprint ghosts' should correspond to the number on the card.
- Set aside to dry.
After the counting cards have dried, it's time to play! Start by counting the number of ghost fingerprints, and then turn the card over to reveal the number written on the back. After your child gets a firm handle on counting, place the cards next to each other and ask her to add the number of ghosts by counting the total number.
Erica Loop has an MS in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education. She has many years of teaching experience working in early childhood education, and as an arts educator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.