Counting Teaching Resources
Teach counting skills this school year with printable worksheets, educational games, digital activities and more primary school resources designed to help students when they are learning to count.
This extensive collection of teaching resources aligned to the Australian curriculum includes maths mentals, MAB flashcards and more to save primary teachers time on lesson planning. Created by expert teachers, each resource in this maths collection has been carefully reviewed and curated by our team. That means it's ready to use in the classroom! You'll even find editable resources, plus differentiated options.
New to teaching counting, or just looking for fresh ways to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teaching team!
What Is Counting?
It may seem obvious, but let's start at the beginning.
The basic counting process involves a one-to-one correspondence between the items in the set and the counting numbers. It's a fundamental mathematical concept taught in the early years that helps our students develop number sense and mathematical skills.
In the early years, students typically learn to:
- Recite the numbers in sequence
- Count objects by pointing to them and saying the corresponding number
- Recognise and write numerals
- Count forward and backward
- Skip count by twos, fives and tens
- Use counting strategies to solve simple addition and subtraction problems
Counting Vocabulary Terms
Let's dive into some of the common maths vocabulary terms related to counting that students encounter in primary school.
Numerals
Numerals is another word for the symbols that represent numbers, such as 1, 2 and 3.
Digits
Digits are the individual symbols that are used to make up numerals. For example, let's look at the numeral 12. The digits 1 and 2 make up the numeral 12.
Skip Counting
One of the early skills students learn in counting is the process of skip counting, in which they literally skip over numbers. A precursor to traditional addition, skip counting involves counting by a specific number sequence, such as 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.
For example, when skip counting by 2s, a student would start at 2, counting out 4, 6, 8, 10, and so on.
Counting On
Counting on is a simple strategy for performing addition. Using this strategy, students start with a smaller number and count up by the number being added to find a sum.
For example, if a student faces the addition problem 3 + 4, they would start with the number 3 and count on 4 more: 4, 5, 6, 7. In this case, the answer is 7.
Counting Back
The opposite of counting on is counting back. This strategy for solving subtraction problems involves starting with a larger number and counting down by the number being subtracted to find a difference.
As an example, a student who wants to solve the subtraction problem 5 - 3 could count backward from the larger number to find the solution. In this case, the larger number is 5. The student would start with 5, counting back 3 — 4, 3, 2. The answer is 2.
Tally Marks
Tally marks are a great tool for teaching early counting skills. When teaching counting with tally marks, you ask your students to draw a certain number of tally marks to represent a given quantity.
For example, if a student is going to count to four using tally marks, they would draw a single vertical line and then draw three more lines next to it.
Tally marks are typically drawn in groups of five, so if a student were asked to then count to five using tally marks, they would draw a diagonal line crossing through the four vertical lines to represent all five.
Understanding how to create sets of five tally marks can help students count to larger numbers easily. For example, if a student is asked to count to 15, they would create three sets of five tally marks.
Grouping
The term grouping has a number of definitions, depending on how it's being used. But when it comes to counting, grouping refers to a method of organising objects into groups of equal size to facilitate counting.
Sets of tally marks are a perfect example of grouping — they're a visual representation of grouping numbers into sets of five.
How to Teach Counting
Are you looking for some fun ways to teach counting in your early years classroom? The more hands-on and active, the better!
In addition to the worksheets, games and other activities in this collection, try some of these fun ideas from our teacher team!
- Use Snacktivities — Maths manipulatives help young kinesthetic learners understand counting by making the concepts more concrete, and using snacks adds a real-world element to the lesson! Challenge students to string snacks like cereal loops for practice with grouping or simply to count out exact numbers of gummy bears. Just make sure no one samples the manipulatives!
- Get Arty — Incorporating art into counting activities adds an element of fun. For example, ask kids to draw a certain number of circles, squares or other shapes and then count them out loud. This also helps students work fine muscles and develops their understanding of basic shapes.
- Play Store — Even before students learn about currency, kids enjoy the role-play of 'shopping' like adults. Use this to your advantage by setting up a classroom 'store' and asking children to count out the correct amount of play money to purchase items.
- Get Active — Encourage movement and help students get their wiggles out while learning. Ask children to count out loud while jumping or hopping, or play a game of Simon Says that involves specific numbers of a specific movement.
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Hickory Dickory Dock – Nursery Rhyme Poster
Use this “Hickory Dickory Dock” nursery rhyme poster to teach your youngest students about rhyme, rhythm and counting.
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Build a Pizza Counting Interactive Activity
Build a pizza by using counting skills with this fun interactive game.
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Counting to 10 Interactive Task Cards
Count groups of aliens up to 10 with this set of fun and engaging interactive counting task cards.
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Numbers 1–20 Peg Cards
Facilitate counting practise with this set of multisensory peg cards.
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Counting 1-20 Worksheet Pack
Practise counting to 20 with this set of worksheets ready to go!
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Numbers 1-10 Bug Matching Game
Help students learn to represent numbers 1-10 in picture, word and number form.
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Counting and Colouring Basketball I Spy Worksheet
Have a bit of counting and colouring fun with a basketball worksheet for Prep.
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Counting Objects Board Game – Numbers 1–5
Practise basic maths skills with a counting objects board game.
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Sequence Puzzle for Numbers 1-10 — Gingerbread Man
Share this sequence puzzle with your students for a fun way to practise ordering the numbers 1 - 10.
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Number Recognition Craft Activity Pack
Reinforce number recognition with this engaging craft activity pack for numbers 1 - 10.
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Paralympic Games Count and Colour Worksheets
Count and tally Paralympic icons with our engaging I Spy Worksheets, which are perfect for enhancing your students' observation and counting skills.
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Alien-Themed Counting Worksheet
Use these alien-themed counting worksheets to help your students count quantities between 1 and 10.
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Spin, Count and Colour Counting Game
Practise counting skills with this fun spin, colour and count game for pairs.
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Which Is More? Counting Card Game
Compare and order collections up to 20 with this set of counting cards.
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Counting Objects Sorting Numbers 6-10
Practise counting 6 – 10 objects with this colourful sorting activity.
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Finger Counting Poster Set
Display this set of finger counting posters to10 in the early years classroom.
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Aliens in a Spaceship Counting Game (1-6)
Practise counting with this fun aliens in a spaceship counting game.
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Counting Up to 20 Zoo Animals Worksheet Pack
Count the different animal groups on this set of three worksheets perfect for practising fundamental counting skills.
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Counting to 10 Match-Up Activity
Practise counting to 10 with this set of twenty object and number matching cards.
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Ice Cream Counting Game
Help students practise their knowledge of counting numbers 1-20 with this fun ice cream matching game.
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Search and Find – Year 1 Halloween Maths Worksheet
Get your students counting up to Halloween with this fun search and find maths worksheet.
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Number Talk Task Cards - Ten Frames
Build number sense skills with this set of 30 ten and double ten frame maths talk task cards.
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Numbers to 30 - Printable Tens Frames
Use a printable ten frame when working on counting, addition and subtraction, odd and even numbers, or place value.
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Counting Peg Cards - Halloween
Practise counting objects with a set of 18 Halloween peg cards.
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Counting Collections to 20 Worksheet
A place value worksheet for students to use when counting small collections.
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Halloween Connect the Dots Worksheets (1-50)
Practise counting up to 50 with a set of fun Halloween Connect the Dots worksheets.
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Animated Flip Book (Ordering Numbers)
Delight your students with this animated flip book that will help them solidify their understanding of counting and ordering the numbers 1 through 20.
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Ten Frame Matching Game
Use this ten frame game to strengthen your students’ number sense and foundational maths skills.
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Counting Picture Puzzle Numbers 6-10
Practise counting 6 to 10 objects and matching groups to numbers through this 15-piece picnic scene picture puzzle
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Counting Picture Puzzle Numbers 1-5
Practise counting objects within 5 and matching groups to numbers through this 15-piece camping scene picture puzzle
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Counting to 20 Match-Up Cards
Count objects up to 20 with our match-up card game.
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Counting Wheel Clip Cards Numbers 1-10
Practise counting objects to 10 and using fine motor skills to put a peg on these clip cards.