At a Glance
These printable pet counting clip cards have your preschool and kindergarten children counting the animals on each card, then clipping a clothespin onto the correct number. Covering numbers 1 to 10, they build counting skills, number recognition and one-to-one correspondence, while all that clothespin squeezing gives those little hands a super fine motor workout.
There is a whole pet shop worth of animals to count on these clip cards, and your little learners get to count them all!
The idea is simple – count the pets on each card, find the matching number and clip a clothespin onto it. But there is a lot of learning packed into it.
Not only do they get to practice counting and number recognition, the squeezing of clothespins is also a wonderful way to develop their fine motor skills (and maybe to get in a bit of practice for helping to hang out the laundry!)
And let’s face it, children love to count – it’s just so natural to want to quantify and make sense of the world around them. And it’s one of the main preschool math skills and an essential skill for them to develop.
These clip cards are also very simple to prepare, just print off, cut out (and laminate if you want) then spread out on a table with some clothespins – done!
So why not grab these counting clip cards and help nurture their little mathematical minds?
You can explore some other awesome printable math activities here.
What Skills Can Your Little Ones Learn And Develop?
While using these pet themed count and clip cards your children will have the chance to practice and develop some early math skills such as:
- Counting skills – they’ll have to count the animals carefully to ensure they clip the clothespin onto the correct number
- Number recognition – they’ll need to be able to recognize the numbers to make sure they are clipping the right one
- 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 be able to pick up and squeeze the clothespins and align it with the correct number while holding the card
- Hand Strength – squeezing those clothespins is great for developing hand and finger strength
- Subitizing – On the lower-numbered cards, children can start to see how many animals there are at a glance rather than counting one by one.
How To Prepare These Pet Clip Cards
This one’s pretty straight forward!
First you’re going to want to download the clip cards 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 them 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 learners can use them again and so they are strong enough for the pegs to clip to without ripping them.
After that you’re all done!
Just grab some clothespins, spread the cards out on a table and see if your children can carefully count the pets then clip a clothespin onto the correct number!
Get Even More Out of These Clip Cards
Don’t pack them away just yet – here are some fun ways to get even more out of this set:
Beat the Timer
Set a timer and see how many cards your little ones can correctly clip before it runs out. Great as a warm-up or a quick brain break.
Guess First, Then Count
Before counting, get in a bit of estimation practice by getting your little learners to take a quick guess at how many pets are on the card. Then count together and see how close they were.
Line Them Up Smallest to Biggest
Once several cards are clipped, lay them out in order from the fewest pets to the most. Seeing the quantities grow step by step really strengthens their sense of number order, and it is a lovely visual way to show what “more” and “fewer” actually mean.
Set Them Up as a Math Center
These cards work beautifully as an independent activity. Pop them in a basket with a pot of clothespins and they become a ready-made math center, a morning tub option or something for fast finishers to pick up without needing an adult. You can find a few more activities from our counting activities here.
Celebrate National Kids and Pets Day
If you want a real-world hook, National Kids and Pets Day falls on April 26 each year and celebrates the bond between children and animals. Break the cards out that week, talk about the pets your little ones know and love, and you have an instant themed math activity. You can find it and plenty more dates worth marking on our Special Day Calendar.
Subitizing Game
Use them as subitizing flash cards. Show the card to your little ones just for a couple seconds. Can they tell how many pets there are? It works especially well for smaller numbers (1-5) and is a brilliant way to push those who are ready for a little more without needing a different activity entirely.
More or Fewer?
Draw two cards at random and place them side by side. Which card has more pets? Which has fewer? Can children tell just by looking, or do they need to count? This simple comparison game builds number sense and introduces greater than/less than language in a really accessible way.
Enjoy, and let’s nurture those neurons!
