Are you looking for counting activities for your Special Education classroom? I love using counting tasks in my students work boxes, but sometimes prepping and preparing everything for use in your classroom in a PAIN! I have 10 Low Prep Counting activities that you can use in your classroom in no time!
1. Counting Boards
I’m a fan of a quick laminate and go activity. These counting boards are some of my FAVORITES. You slip your pieces in a laminating sheet, add some velcro, do a few quick chops on the paper cutter and you’re set to go. I use these activities in my classroom all the time. I also make sure I include all the numbers in my task bins so my students have some distracter images and count each set.
2. Count it Out Mats
Staying on that quick laminate and go train, counting objects up to 20 was a bit more of a challenge for my students and what they really needed was practice. I made some quick counting mats and added some velcro. I then printed out some small counting pieces (you could use dotters or stickers if you want as well). I toss the boards and a container of counters into a bin and my students will practice counting out sets to match numbers.
3. Counting Cards
I’ll admit, these are one of the higher prep activities, but you can still be rocking it by the next day if you have 30 minutes set aside to prep for your classroom! These cookie counting cards are a hit in our classroom. I cut apart the matching boards and matching pieces and add velcro. My students count the sprinkles on the cookies and match them to the correct number cookie board to solve the puzzles. I’ll usually put 5-10 cookie cards in a task bin for my student to complete in one sitting.
4. Hole Punch Cards
Hole punch cards are just a ton of fun. I don’t think I’ve met a student who didn’t want to hole punch (even if it was difficult for them!). I prep some hole punching cards and toss about 2-3 in a task box with a hole punch. My students will read the number on the card and add that many punches to the paper.
5. Cube Towers
This is a serious NO PREP ACTIVITY. Print off the cube tower activity and grab some counting cubes and you’ll be ready to go! I will usually slip these into a sheet protector for my students who need some extra durability, but laminating isn’t necessary for this activity. Students read the number on the counting board and build a tower of cubes to match the number. Did I sneak in some fine motor with this activity? My students never seem to notice.
6. Muffin Tin Counting
This is another easy prep activity. I know you’ve been hoarding collecting erasers from the Target Dollar Spot like me, so this activity will be set up in no time! Print and cut out number circles and drop them into a muffin tin. I like a 6 muffin tin, but you can use 12 if you want. Prepare a container of erasers for your students to use. Students will count out erasers into the holes of the muffin tin to match the number in the bottom. I like having extra numbers on hand so I can switch them out quickly, but if you’re working on just a few number, print a couple copies and drop those numbers into the muffin tin!
7. Clip Cards
Clip cards are seriously one of the quickest activities to prep in my classroom. Run them through a laminator, chop them up, and grab some clothespins and you’re set to go! I have clip cards for every season and activity in my classroom. I store them in a bin so I can just grab them, toss them in a work box, and we’re ready to work in no time.
8. Counting Flipbooks
My students love flipbooks and I love how easy they are to set up. The prep does take a little longer than some of the other activities, but trust me, it’s worth it! I laminate, cut, and velcro my books then bind them together with a coil binder, but if you don’t have a coil binder, you can definitely use binder hooks! Once they’re put together they’re ready to use any time and I have them for every season and holiday you can imagine!
9. Card Game Clip
This is a NO PREP ACTIVITY and it’s really fun! Grab your old set of cards from any card game you have lying around and pull out some target numbers. I had a deck of Phase 10 cards, but you could use Uno Cards or any other game with cards that have numbers on theme. Then toss some clothespins in a bin. Students will read the number on the card and place the same number of clothespins onto the card. My students LOVE using cards from card games in a brand new way!
10. Domino Sort
This is a great activity because it gets my students starting to combine sets when they’re counting. I printed these quick domino counting mats (you can laminate and add velcro if you want to make it a task box activity) and grab dominoes whose total number of dots will correspond to our target numbers. I toss that all in a box and students practice counting the total number of dots on the domino and sorting between our target numbers.
