No Time For Flash Cards

preschool activities, preschool crafts, and preschool books.

  • Blog
  • About
    • Terms Of Use
    • Disclaimer
    • Holiday Gift Guide For Kids
    • Advertise
    • In The Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Bloglovin
  • Preschool Activities
  • crafts for kids
    Preschool Crafts
  • Preschool Books
  • sensory alphabet activity
    Letters & Numbers
  • For Teachers
  • Toddlers
  • Preschool
  • Kindergarten
  • Elementary

December 18, 2013 | 14 Comments

Button Mural – Number Recognition

button number fine motor math muralMy daughter is a big fan of murals, buttons, and numbers. I love seeing the differences between children while also celebrating their similarities. My daughter has always loved number recognition and picking up teeny tiny objects so this activity was a sure fire hit. What I didn’t expect was for her to complete the whole thing in one sitting. I expected her to do a few numbers then come back to it later. Instead she did them all one after the other and we were almost late for preschool. I loved how many different aspects of working with numbers and quantities this activity naturally encouraged. As you will see not only did my daughter make the shape but she counted, traced, and compared sizes as well. **Please only use items that your child is ready for. If your child is still in a mouthy stage you can use paper cut out shapes instead.**

Gather your materials. You will need some contact paper, painter’s tape, a marker and buttons.button numbers math preschool

Start by attaching the contact paper to the wall. Painter’s tape works great and won’t muck up your walls.math button number mural

Write numbers on the contact paper.button number mural for preschool

I  welcomed my mini math whiz to check out what I was doing in the hall. She started by tracing the numbers and noticing how hard that it to do with contact paper’s sticky surface.button number mural exploring the numbers

Next she added and added and added buttons.button mural adding the buttons Stopping to count from time to time.button mural counting the buttons

She noticed that one button was exactly the same color as her sweatshirt.button color match mural

She kept adding and talking about the numbers she was creating. I loved when she noticed that she needed either one large button or a few little ones to finish off a number. Good little lesson there!button mural finishing the whole things

If your child does one number and is excited that’s great. I originally asked her to choose her favorite and then was going to ask her to choose her next favorite but she just kept going. Go with the flow and look for those little unexpected lessons like color matching and size.

No matter what celebrate !

button numbers all done celebration

 

 

Counting Books

 
All of our book lists include affiliate links to Amazon.com .
Anno's Counting Book

Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno almost didn’t make it into my library bag. I am so glad it did. This is a wonderful book full of possibilities. There is no text just simple aerial illustrations of a field as it evolves one number at a time. The field fills up quickly and it can be tricky to classify the pictures on each page to match them with the number displayed but once you do, each page is a lesson!

doggies

Doggies by Sandra Boynton has been one of my daughter’s favorite books for ages. If you aren’t familiar with it, it’s a simple counting book about dogs, their different barks, and one pesky cat. Toddlers love barking along with it so it’s a great book for places where they don’t have to be shushed, it’s not a great one for quiet only places like a church service.

math books for preschoolers

On the Launch Pad: A Counting Book About Rockets by Michael Dahl was a great find, my son loved counting down from 12-1 with the bright illustrations, simple text, and hidden numbers on each page. Something that seems simple but was really awesome was that each page had the number written as a word, shown as a digit, and as dots to count. You can take the time to count each dot, read the word, or simply recognize the digit!

Ten on the sled

Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman is a really fun and educational book. The book is a new spin on the old song “Ten in A Bed” but instead of squeezing onto a bed, these cold-weather animals pile on and off the sled one at a time. What is wonderful from an educational sense is not just the obvious counting element but as each animal exists the sled the verb used for how they exit begins with the same letter as the animal does. My daughter and I read this last night and even though she knows there is a moose and a caribou on the sled she insisted they were reindeer. We stopped each page to count and double-check that the correct number of animals were on the sled. It took forever to read and might just have been a kid-led tactic to make bedtime stretch out but I can’t say no to counting.

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Toddlers, Buttons, Fine Motor Activities, Letters & Numbers, Math Activities, Number Recognition | 14 Comments

Like this post? Share it with a friend!

Become an Email Subscriber

Sign up above and receive all new No Time for Flashcards posts directly in your email inbox.

You may also like these posts

Next Post: New Years Crafts For Kids
Previous Post: Tape Resist – Easy Christmas Tree Craft

14 Comments

  1. Molly says

    December 18, 2013 at 8:38 am

    We LOVE Ten On a Sled! It is one of our favorite books my son is known to shout “Great thunder! Duck under!” Spontaneously and I laugh every single time I can’t help it. I will definitely look for that rocket book he is very into space ships and rockets lately.

    to Molly" aria-label='reply to this comment to Molly'>reply to this comment
    • Allison McDonald says

      December 18, 2013 at 3:25 pm

      Isn’t it a fun read? I love reading it on fast forward like a tongue twister but my daughter whines when I do that 😛

      to Allison McDonald" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allison McDonald'>reply to this comment
  2. Anuva says

    December 18, 2013 at 11:50 am

    Your ideas never cease to amaze me! This looks so fun. And I just got my hot cocoa cups laminated this morning so I can introduce my little to addition this afternoon (Hot Cocoa Math!). Thank you!!!

    to Anuva" aria-label='reply to this comment to Anuva'>reply to this comment
    • Allison McDonald says

      December 18, 2013 at 3:24 pm

      I hope you have fun!

      to Allison McDonald" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allison McDonald'>reply to this comment
  3. Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings says

    December 20, 2013 at 5:23 am

    I looove this — I will have to try with my son today 🙂

    to Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings" aria-label='reply to this comment to Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings'>reply to this comment
  4. Sandy Britton says

    June 14, 2014 at 9:33 am

    I love the Button Numbers activity. My son is 7 so I am going to make it look like a phone. After he does a little “research” on what goes where on each phone button, he is going to use it to memorize important phone numbers!! It will also give me the opportunity to discuss and teach phone etiquette!!

    to Sandy Britton" aria-label='reply to this comment to Sandy Britton'>reply to this comment
  5. Crystal says

    May 15, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    Did you glue the buttons?

    to Crystal" aria-label='reply to this comment to Crystal'>reply to this comment
    • Allison McDonald says

      May 17, 2015 at 10:56 pm

      nope they just stuck on the contact paper, it’s sticky!

      to Allison McDonald" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allison McDonald'>reply to this comment
  6. Nicole says

    August 25, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    I love that picture of your daughter at the end! She looks so pumped! I have some random contact paper and this will be right up my daughter’s alley. She loves buttons and here’s my excuse to go buy some pretty ones at Hobby Lobby.

    to Nicole" aria-label='reply to this comment to Nicole'>reply to this comment
  7. Lily says

    January 4, 2016 at 12:53 am

    I hv a 14 year old downsyndrome boy who knows reorganization of alphabets and numbers and even can write but I want to teach him reading which I tv to start of with two letter words and in a fun learning way as which ever school he is going they are doing only alphabets and numbers up to 10 how can u help me and he has very weak fine motors which activities wd u suggest as the child needs to learn buttoning and something new activities

    to Lily" aria-label='reply to this comment to Lily'>reply to this comment
    • Allison McDonald says

      January 5, 2016 at 3:36 pm

      I am not an OT but I would start with activities he may already like like building Lego – but I urge you to check out some great occupational therapist blogs like MAMAOT.com

      to Allison McDonald" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allison McDonald'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. Awesome ways to Teach Toddlers Numbers - Only For Boys! says:
    September 28, 2017 at 2:01 am

    […] button mural numbers by NoTimeforFlashCards. It requires some preparation and is ideal for a […]

    to Awesome ways to Teach Toddlers Numbers - Only For Boys!" aria-label='reply to this comment to Awesome ways to Teach Toddlers Numbers - Only For Boys!'>reply to this comment
  2. 21 AMAZING STICKY WALL ACTIVITIES – HAPPY TODDLER PLAYTIME says:
    November 24, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    […] Button Mural Number Recognition by No Time for Flash Cards […]

    to 21 AMAZING STICKY WALL ACTIVITIES – HAPPY TODDLER PLAYTIME" aria-label='reply to this comment to 21 AMAZING STICKY WALL ACTIVITIES – HAPPY TODDLER PLAYTIME'>reply to this comment
  3. Awesome ways to Teach Toddlers Numbers - Toys! Toys! says:
    September 2, 2018 at 4:29 am

    […] button mural numbers by NoTimeforFlashCards. It requires some preparation and is ideal for a […]

    to Awesome ways to Teach Toddlers Numbers - Toys! Toys!" aria-label='reply to this comment to Awesome ways to Teach Toddlers Numbers - Toys! Toys!'>reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search For Activities

Now In Paperback!

Buy NOW

All Activities

Become an Email Subscriber

Sign up above and receive all new No Time for Flash Cards posts directly in your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Bloglovin

Copyright © 2008-2023 • No Time For Flash Cards - ACM Media LLC • Site Design by Emily White Designs