Outdoor Number Fun with Flowers

A bundle of sticks, a pile of small rocks, some sturdy tape, and a set of number cards are the building blocks for an afternoon of number fun that includes number hunts, ordering numbers, matching numbers, and counting.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Target Learning Skills:

Number Concepts
Count by ones or by twos

Common Core Standard:

CC.K.A.2 Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1).
CC.K.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

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The activities presented here can be used by one child or a small group of children. The number cards selected for these activities, which show the numbers 1-15 marked in the centers of brightly colored flowers, come from the Bee and Flower Number Game available in the KidsSoup.com library, These cards can be easily taped to sticks and stuck into the soil for a number hunt. They fit nicely into outdoor environments.

Bee and Flower Number Game (Available inside our KidsSoup Resource Library )

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Hide the flowers around the yard or outdoor area for children to find. Create a grid with sidewalk chalk where children can match the flowers they’ve found to numbers written inside the grid squares.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Once all of the numbers have been found, encourage children to stick them back into the dirt to make a number line. If the children are developmentally ready, they can extend their number practice by ordering the numbers by twos.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Another way that children can “play outside” with numbers is to place “bees” by each “found” flower in order to show “how many” each number represents. The bee counters can be made from small rocks that have been painted yellow and marked with black lines and eyes. These counters can be stored along with the flowers (removed from the sticks) and placed on a tray that children can use for on-going practice with number concepts.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

A second option is to keep the flower number cards attached to their sticks and include them as part of a fun craft activity. Children can cut leaves from green paper and glue them to the “stems” of the flowers to match the numbers marked in the centers (for this option, it may be best to attach the flowers to craft sticks instead of natural sticks so that the leaves can be glued to flat surfaces). Then, children can paint small flower pots and fill them with soil (How many scoops of soil does it take to fill the flower pot?) to “plant” their flowers.