Farm Math Games Perfect for Preschoolers
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These farm math games are a perfect addition to your barnyard activities! Enjoy them with your preschool class, and don’t miss our full list of activities for a preschool farm theme.
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Related: Farm Theme Preschool Snack
My preschoolers love any game that involves dice, so we play a lot of them. There’s just something about rolling a die that gets the kids excited!
It’s fun to take that interest and attach it to themed learning games like these. The children get to have a blast tossing dice around as they practice early math concepts.
Farm Math Games
Pairing these animal math games with a preschool farm theme is a no-brainer! Here are not just one, but two farm-themed math games that your kids will love.
Put the Mud on the Pig Game
This first of the farm-themed preschool math games is called “put the mud on the pig”. Having a silly name apparently makes it even more fun for the kiddos to play!
Related: Homemade Games for Kids
Pig Math Game Materials
- Unifix Cubes – we used the brown as “mud”
- Dice
- Pig play mat – grab the free printable below!
- Brown dot marker (optional)
For durability, I’d suggest laminating the game boards after printing. You can also place the game in a dry erase pocket. If durability isn’t a concern, then skip that part. I printed enough that each kid in the class could have their own, if they wanted.
How to Play the Pig Dice Game
The first time around, we kept the dice game pretty simple. Most of the kiddos played the game with a friend, although a few chose to play on their own. Each student started with the same number of brown Unifix cubes. They rolled the die, then placed the appropriate number of cubes on the pig (so if I rolled a 5, I’d place 5 cubes on the pig). Then the other student took their turn. Whoever got rid of their “muddy” cubes first won the game.
Related: On the Farm Book Making
This preschool math activity can be changed up depending on the kids who are playing it. To encourage number recognition, write numbers on the pig play mats. When the child rolls the die, she has to place a cube on the correct number. The kiddos could also use dice that have numbers on them, rather than dots.
Alternately, let the students use two dice while playing the farm math games. They can roll both at the same time, then count/add how many dots they have all together. That final number determines how many cubes get placed on the pig. Once again, the kids could use dice with numbers instead of dots. This would help with learning addition facts.
If playing by themselves, kids can use a brown dot marker instead of Unifix cubes to put the mud on the pig. For each number they roll on the die, they make that number of muddy dots on the pig. If using a marker, I would leave the pig printables unlaminated.
Related: Fall Math Activities
Duck Printable Dice Game
Another of the favorite farm math games is this printable duck game! It uses dice, like the pig game, but is a roll and color game.
Materials for the Duck Game
- Crayons or colored pencils
- Dice
- Duck play mat – grab the free printable below!
Duck Dice Game Directions
This game is meant for two students to play together. Player 1 rolls the die, and then colors in one of the appropriate numbers on the duck using “their” color. Player 2 takes her turn and does the same, using a different color.
Players go back and forth until all of the numbers are colored in. At that point, they count the colored numbers. Whoever colored in the most numbers is the winner.
It is inevitable that before the game is over, a player will roll a number and there won’t be any of that number left uncolored. Classroom rules are that they lose that turn. I tend to teach this in a funny way, exaggeratedly snapping my fingers and saying, “maybe next time!” in a silly voice. You could make it as silly as you want to, like making the student quack like a duck if they can’t color a number. This takes away the sting of not being able to cover up a number on that turn.
The game is easily played with just one person, too. Kids are often very happy to roll a die and cover up numbers all on their own. I’ve known kids to play the dice game on their own over and over (and over!) again.
What the Kids are Learning as The Play the Farm Dice Games
As with most activities I share, there’s a lot of learning involved. Here are some concepts the children learned with these farm math games:
- Counting
- One-to-one correspondence
- Taking turns
- Being a graceful winner/loser
- Numeral recognition
That’s not an exhaustive list of course! Do your students enjoy dice games like these? What are some of their favorite math games?
More Pig Activities for Preschool
If your kids are squealing for more pig activities, I’ve got you covered! These are perfect for a farm theme, or for pairing with the classic story The Three Little Pigs.
- Muddy Pigs Sensory Art – Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
- Pig Tails Color Sorting – Modern Preschool
- Feed the Pig Counting Game – From ABCs to ACTs
- Paper Plate Pig Craft – No Time for Flash Cards
- Clothespin Pigs – Serendipitous Discovery
- Three Little Pigs Story Activity – Sunny Day Family
- Pigs in the Mud Sensory Play and Song – Fantastic Fun and Learning
More Preschool Duck Activities
There are also some amazing hands-on duck activities out there! Enjoy these duck arts and crafts, duck sensory play, duck literacy and math activities, and more.
- Duck Race – Fantastic Fun and Learning
- Duck Pond Play Dough – Growing Hands-On Kids
- Rubber Duck Math Race – Happy Toddler Playtime
- Duck Feet Painting – Emma Owl
- 5 Little Ducks Rocks – Red Ted Art
- Touch and Feel Ducks – No Time for Flash Cards
- 5 Little Ducks Poem – Play to Learn Preschool
Free Printable Farm Math Games
The free printable math games are available to members of Fun-A-Day’s (free!) email community. If you’re a member, just enter your email in the form below to get the download links sent to your inbox.
If you’re not a member, you can join us by entering your information in the form below. Then you’ll get an email with the download links as a welcome gift.
Please note that some school districts have super-strict firewalls in place that can inhibit grabbing my free printables. If you find that’s the case, I suggest using a home computer and non-work email address.
You can also open the form in a new tab.
Done-for-You Preschool Resources
Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week, all while balancing other teaching responsibilities and a personal life, can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!
Preschool Teacher 101 is excited to share with you some amazing lesson plans, activity packs, and much more! We offer a wide variety of themes that are frequently used in preschool classrooms, as well as some less common (but super interesting) themes. Click on the images below to learn more about our farm-themed resources.
Join the waiting list for The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101 today for exclusive access to our amazing products.
Originally published August, 2014.
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