Learning Mats: Numbers & Counting

5 stars

I used the counting mats in a variety of ways. My pre-K students particularly liked it when we used them as a transitional activity from "circle-time". I placed the 10 fishbowl cards on the carpet in the middle of the circle. Students took turns rolling large foam dice to get a number. Once their number was rolled they put the rolled number of fish on the correct fishbowl before going to learning centers. The cards are sturdy enough to leave in the math center for independent play in counting and written number recognition. I have also placed them in the writing center so that students could practice writing numbers on the back (wipe off surface). Cards and fish are colorful and bright and can be wiped off easily.

4 stars

The mats are brightly colored and their durability is good. There are a lot of pieces and they are very small.

4 stars

I was a bit disappointed when I opened the box and found that the fish were made of hard slick cardboard. I had hoped they would be like foam or color forms or some material that would cling to the bowls when sorted. Nevertheless, my daughter loves this game. She is 4 and loves sorting the fish by color and size and counting the fish onto the mats and placing the mats in numerical order and using the fish to talk about the concepts of less and more. We even use the fish to feed her dollies at tea party. Very useful and fun learning tool!