At a Glance
This printable Itsy Bitsy Spider counting game helps preschool and kindergarten children practice counting, number recognition and one-to-one correspondence from 1 to 10. Little learners count the raindrops on each cloud card and match them to the spider holding the correct number sign. A playful, hands-on math twist on a much-loved nursery rhyme.
Down came the rain… and out came some math practice! This Itsy Bitsy Spider counting game turns one of the most-loved nursery rhymes into a cute little hands-on number matching activity.
Children will need to count the count the raindrops on each cloud card, then find the friendly spider holding the matching number from 1 to 10. It’s a simple but meaningful way to build early number sense through play and pairs beautifully with these Itsy Bitsy Spider ordering cards.
This activity supports early counting from 1 to 10, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence.
Time to sing, count and match!
What Skills Can Your Children Learn And Practice?
When playing this cute math game, your children will have the chance to practice and develop skills such as:
- Counting skills – they’ll have to count the acorns carefully to ensure they are matching it to the correct number card
- Number recognition – they’ll need to be able to recognize the numbers to match them up correctly
- One to one correspondence – this important skill (trickier than you may think) is the ability to only touch and count an object of a set once
- Fine motor skills – they will have to use a good pincer grip to pick up the cards
- Hand-eye coordination – to ensure they can move and place the cards together
- Subitizing – for the smaller quantities, children often recognize the amount at a glance without counting one by one. That rapid recognition is an important number sense skill, and the cards encourage it naturally.
How To Prepare This Incy Wincy Spider Counting Game
This one’s pretty straight forward!
First you’re going to want to download the preschool math game by clicking on the download box at the bottom of the page.
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Once you’ve downloaded them, you’ll need to print the pages off onto paper or card.
Then, you can cut them out.
Once they’re all cut out, I’d strongly advise laminating them to keep them looking nice and so your little ones can play the game again.
After that you’re all done!
Your children are ready to start counting the raindrops and practicing some key early math skills while their at it!
Some Other Ways You Could Use This Early Math Center…
Don’t put it away just yet – there’s plenty more you can do with this one once the basic matching is down.
Line It Up
Once the pairs are matched, challenge your little ones to line the number cards up in the correct order from 1 to 10 – then try it the other way. Can they count backward from 10 to 1? Great for a bit of number sequencing practice!
Missing Number
Lay the number cards out in order and secretly remove one while your little learner isn’t looking. Can they spot what’s been taken? This works well one-on-one and in small groups, and it’s a great way to push number sense that bit further.
Memory Game
Shuffle all the cards and lay them face down in a grid. Players take turns flipping two cards over, aiming to find matching number-and-picture pairs.
How Many More to Make 10?
After a pair is matched, ask: “How many more would we need to make 10?” A really nice, game-based intro to the idea of number bonds.
More, Fewer, or the Same?
Pull two cloud cards out at a time and ask which has more raindrops, which has fewer, or whether they’re equal. This is a brilliant gentle introduction to comparing quantities, which is a really important early math concept and one that often gets skipped over in counting games.
Rainy Day Sensory Hunt
Hide the cloud cards in a tray of blue rice, water beads, or shredded blue paper for a sensory rainstorm. Your little one fishes out a cloud, counts the raindrops, and finds its spider partner.
Trace the Number, Then Find It
Before searching for thew cloud card, ask your little one to trace the numeral on the spider’s sign with their finger. If you’ve laminated the set, they can trace right over the top with a dry-erase marker too. A small extra step that helps to build those early number formation skills!
However you use this nursery rhyme math game, I hope you and your little ones love it.
Enjoy and let’s nurture those neurons!
