Halloween ten frames and playdough mats are super fun. They engage your preschoolers and help them to conquer counting from 1 to 10 and gain a strong grasp of number sense!
In addition to helping your children learn to count, Ten frames are one of the most straightforward math resources available to make complex math concepts like addition and subitizing simple.
In a hurry?
Grab your “Halloween Counting Ten Frame Playdough Mats” here!
It’s truly remarkable how much knowledge kids pick up from such straightforward, and not to mention FUN, exercises. Exactly what you need in your math activities for preschool.
Table of Contents
- Halloween 10 Frame Playdough Mats
- Halloween Counting & Number Sense
- Halloween Ten Frames & Subitizing
- Using Your Halloween Counting Ten Frame Mats
- If you want these Halloween ten frames for yourself…
Halloween 10 Frame Playdough Mats
Because these are “Halloween Counting Ten Frame Playdough Mats” they make learning to count super fun. Honestly, most Montessori math-based learning tools are fun to use!
It’s creative play at its best because play dough can be used to shape the big number in any way that your child fancies. They can make plain or twisted dough ropes to lay on top of it, smash play doh onto it, or even cover the number with dough dots or other math manipulatives like pom poms or mini erasers.
Let your kids make little dough balls to place inside the ten frame squares helping them to make the connection between the number concept and the written number. This engaging activity turns math time into multisensory learning fun.
Pro Tip: These Halloween counting worksheets work equally well with candy corn counters, marshmallows, cat erasers, buttons, pompoms, or any other loose bits of your choice.
Halloween Counting & Number Sense
With activities like these, teaching number sense is quite simple. By filling each square of the ten frames and counting the items placed in them one by one, your kids will learn the one-to-one correspondence with the number pictured on the playdough mat and understand the value that the numeral represents.
Using the ten frames in this way you child will learn about number quantity rather than just recognizing the number symbol and telling you its name, working with ten frames aids in the development of number sense.
Halloween Ten Frames & Subitizing
In addition to helping your preschooler get their counting and number recognition down pat, this ten-frame activity will help them to hone their subitizing skills faster than you might imagine.
Subitizing is the skill of rapidly identifying, without counting, the number of items in a tiny collection or arrangement. Such as seeing 6 dots on a die and knowing it is six without counting.
Children can visualize the quantity of each number and comprehend “how many” without counting by using ten frames. Children will soon recognize five when they notice the top row is filled, for instance.
This is the fundamental ability required to merge numbers from sets (such as 5+2) and to become fluent in mathematics.
Using Your Halloween Counting Ten Frame Mats
As math resources go, ten frames are super easy-to-use. They don’t require a lot of prep on your part before you get started. Just print them out and gather a few math manipulatives and start playing with your kids.
Suggested Materials
Below are a few ideas for math manipulatives you can use to get your creative juices flowing. You probably have at least one of them already on hand in your home or classroom. Feel free to use whatever kid-safe small bits inspire you and your wee ones.
- Printable Halloween Ten Frame Mats
- Playdough in Halloween colors
- Candy Corn
- Halloween Mini Erasers
- Mini Marshmallows
Remember, you don’t need ALL of the above. Though it can be fun to shake things up and change out manipulatives you only need to choose one to get started.
Prepping Your Ten Frames
To start with, print all ten pages of your Halloween Ten Frames. If you plan to use them over multiple years or in a classroom setting I highly recommend printing on card stock and laminating them before first use. Or at least slipping them into protective sleeves. That way they will last a whole lot longer!
Put the ten frames onto a table or work surface of your choice with a bowl or tray full of the manipulatives you have chosen.
Using Your Printable Ten Frames For Halloween
Now it’s time to add children! This part is really easy, because if your kids are like mine, they’ve been bombarding you with questions about what you are doing the whole time.
Show your kids the ten frames and tell them what they are called. Count out each little square aloud with them so they understand why they are called 10 frames.
Select a number to work on and demonstrate how the ten frames work. Say the number out loud and get your child to repeat it. Then cover one square with one manipulative, counting out loud as you go, until you reach the number on the card.
Now it’s your child’s turn. Remove the manipulatives and give them the card. Ask them to find and say the number on the ten frame. If you want to focus on number recognition for a while encourage them to cover the numeral with play dough or or other manipulatives.
Then help your child count out the manipulatives of your choice, one per square, until they have the same amount of manipulatives in squares as the number on the ten frame cards.
Explain to them that they always work from left to right and top to bottom just like reading! Yes, this math activity actually reinforces emergent reading skills, too.
As your kids get good at this tell them it’s “Detective Time!” Have them line the ten frames up side by side 1-10 (do your best to keep the manipulatives on the frames) and make some observations. Help them to notice that the amount of manipulatives changes from number to number.
Pro Tip: For very young learners mark the spot where each manipulative goes before laminating. This way your wee ones have a guide to help them place their play dough balls or other counters.
Halloween ten frames and playdough mats are one of the best Halloween math activities for preschoolers because it’s a super fun activity that involves not only counting, addition, and subitizing but fine motor skills as well!
They are excellent for use in your classroom math center or at home. These adorable printable preschool Halloween math worksheets will serve you and your kids for years if printed on cardstock and laminated.