STEM Activities

4 Fun Activities to Practise Numbers With Your Child

Four playful ways to learn the numbers to 10 and compare more and less, with pom-poms, beads, string and a race. Most of them pack into a bag for days out.

Updated 15 July 2022

Number activities for children: threading beads onto numbered pipe cleaners

Quick answer

Number pom-poms with tweezers, beads threaded onto numbered pipe cleaners, a string threaded through number loops in order, and a numbered pancake race. Ages 3 to 6, 15 minutes each.

Here are four fun activities to practise numbers with your child. Through play they learn to recognise the numbers up to 10 and to compare quantities, which is bigger or smaller. Three of them are small enough to take out and about to keep little ones entertained.

Child using tweezers to place pom-poms on a numbered sheet

1. Number pom-poms

Pick up pom-poms with tweezers and drop the right number into circles beside each numeral.

Best forCounting to 5 and pincer grip
Age3 to 5
Time15 minutes
Mess levelLow
DifficultyEasy
CostUnder £3

You will need

Tweezers
Paper
Pom-poms
Coloured pens to match the pom-poms

How to set it up

Write the numbers 1 to 5 down the side of the paper and draw the matching number of circles beside each.
Ask your child to pick up pom-poms with the tweezers and fill the circles.
To make it harder, leave out the circles.
Ask which numbers have more pom-poms and which have fewer.

Why it helps

Children learn to recognise the numerals, match a quantity to each and compare more and less, while the tweezers work the pincer grip they need for pencil control.