10 Ways to Count with Counting Mats: Free and DIY

Playing with counting mats is one of the simplest ways to encourage kids to count. There are many free counting mats available online and they can easily be put into a little ziploc baggie with some counters and you’ve got instant portability.

Counting mats ideas

1. Basketball shots from Modern Preschool. Free 1-12 printable, just add orange pompoms!
2. Train track counting from Play Trains. DIY little drawings of train tracks, then just add the toy trains.
3. Fall mats from No Time for Flashcards. Free 1-10 fall and apple trees. Just add little apples or leaves for counting.
4. Number activity mats from The STEM Laboratory. Kids will get tons of practice with these free 1-10 mats. Includes tally marks, making numbers from play dough, writing numerals and one-to-one correspondence with manipulatives. (Playdough to Plato has a roundup with links to 15 great sets of free counting mats.)
5. Frogs and flies counting to 5 from This Reading Mama. A free printable with a cute theme. (Pond counting mats from Playdough to Plato. Free 1-10 mats just add little frogs or turtles or other pond creatures.)
6. Plant your own tulips from Mama Miss. This is such a beautiful free 1-20 printable!
7. Using legos to teach math from Crayon Freckles. Make yourself a numbered line and off you go!
8. Peg the dot number counting cards from Laughing Kids Learn. You’ll need to subscribe for these free cards, then just print and add clothespins.
9. Learning with ladybugs from Tot Schooling. Free ladybug plus numbers to 20. Just add buttons, or whatever else you have available.
10. Dump truck counting from The Measured Mom. Free 1-20 printable. Just add items to be loaded onto the truck.

Want to see more counting roundup posts?

• 10+ Ways to Count and Move
• 10+ Ways to Count with Play Dough
• 10+ Ways to Count with Fine Motor Skills
• 10+ Ways to Count with Snacks
• 10+ Ways to Count with Storybooks
• 10+ Ways to Count with Clothespins
• 10+ Ways to Count with Free Board Games
• 10+ Ways to Count Outside
• 10+ Ways to Count at Home

Looking for more counting activities?

Pop over to my TpT store for more counting products: within 5, within 20, within 100 and introducing number lines 0-10.