You can go beyond simply counting to ten with your EFL preschool students to teach them numbers. The preschool years are an exciting time for children to be naturally interested in learning numeracy and English at the same time. There are tons of opportunities for fun, meaningful activities that help very young learners meet their development milestones without overloading them. Here are some key milestones and ideas for age 4 to 5.
For ages 2 and 3, go here.
First, a Few Milestones
These milestones are listed by approximate ages when children tend to acquire these skills. Some children will be faster or slower than others and that shouldn’t worry you too much as an EFL teacher. They will be picking up these skills through their own playtime and other lessons. I’ve also only included a few of the many skills they’ll acquire.
For more information on milestones go here.
Counting: By this age children should have a decent handle of counting to 10 in their own language and they should recognize most numerals up to 9 or 10.
If they’ve been learning English before this age they should be pretty solid with the English numbers as well. If not they can pick up counting to 10 within a few lessons.
They also learn to start counting from numbers other than one, such as “8, 9, 10.”
They also start learning how to estimate small quantities.
Up to 20: Many or all of your students will also be able to count to 20 in their native language by the time they reach 5 years old.
Counting Down: In addition this an age where students can start to count backwards as well. First they can start counting down from five to one and then down from ten.
Written Numbers: At this age children are still developing their confidence with recognizing written numerals 1 through 9.
Some might still struggle with tricky ones like 6 and 9 or 1 and 7. They often flip these.
At the same time children are starting to write letters and numbers. Many will begin writing one-digit numerals such as 1, 2, 7 and so on.
You might see play-writing with shapes that look like 4, 5, and 8.
Activities for Teaching Preschool EFL Numbers
This is a great age to continue counting objects, practice counting backwards, and play with numerals. Here are some ideas.
Counting
Circle Time: Children should be moving beyond just counting up by rote. You can add further challenge and language asking students to count different things in the classroom during circle time.
You can ask how many children are wearing T-shirts or the color red. Or ask how many children are girls and how many are boys. How many windows are there and how many stuffed animals can they see? They can count out loud to themselves or as a class.
Toys: You could also lay out toys or crayons for students to count. Then you can add a few more toys and encourage them to continue counting without starting from one.
You could also try removing some to start working on subtraction.
I also like to get students to estimate how many things I have in my hands or bag. After counting out five or ten blocks on the floor, for example, I’ll grab a few and hold them in my closed hands.
I’ll give students a quick peek and ask them to guess how many I have. Students can use a variety of strategies to make their guesses – either with the quick peek, seeing how full my hands look, or checking how many blocks remain on the floor.
Finger-play: You can still play games like Finger Fast Flash/Listen Quick to teach preschool EFL numbers to 4 year-olds. Briefly hold up fingers on one hand and have students call out how many they see. You can move on to using two hands for more challenge once they’re all confident with one hand and nearing 5 years old.
Students can also play with each other in pairs or small groups once they get the idea of the game.
The leader can also call out a number and have the others show it on their fingers. In both versions the fastest responder becomes the new leader.
Songs and Chants: The song “Let’s Count to 10” is still a great one for this age.
Other great songs for counting are “How Many Fingers”, and “Ten Little Dinosaurs” from SuperSimple.com.
Counting Down
Counting down is a new skill that develops at this age. You can begin counting down from three or five. Stay there for a few weeks or months until the students are really comfortable before moving to ten. Jumping ahead too quickly will overwhelm and confuse young children.
Toys: You can lay out a line of toys and count them. Then take one away and start counting down.
Songs and Chants:
Rocket Launch: Counting down before take-off is a ton of fun for preschoolers. First, show your students a picture of a rocket. Show them how it can take off and fly around the room.
Next, demonstrate a rocket launch countdown. Stand up straight and slowly squat down while you count down from 5 (later 10). When you get to 1, shout “blast off!” and jump in the air. This works great as a quick stirrer to wake up sleepy students.
10 Little Bugs: Another good song for counting down is “10 Little Bugs” from Activities for Very Young Learners by Puchta and Elliot. However, at this age you’ll start with just five little bugs.
This song also uses finger-play which helps students concentrate on the meaning.
To start, put your five fingertips (bugs) on a chair or use your other hand as a flat surface to represent a chair.
Then to the tune of Ten Green Bottles sing the lines:
"Five little bugs,
Sitting on a chair!
Five little bugs,
Sitting on a chair!"
At this point lift your hand and show a finger "flying away" and sing
"One little bug flies into the air... "
Then return only four fingers to the chair and sing the last two lines:
"And there were four little bugs,
Sitting on the chair."
Continue, starting with Four little bugs... and repeat until there are no little bugs/fingers left. Finish with
"And there are no little bugs,
sitting on the chair!"
If you like crafting or drawing, this song also works well with those options.
Books: One great book for counting down is Five Little Monkeys, by Eileen Christelow (video). This book also has tons of song adaptations online and many crafting opportunities.
Numerals
Learning numerals 1 through 9 is a big step and opens a lot of activity options, even with large preschool classes.
Flashcards: You can put flashcards up on the board and play Magic Eyes with your students. Chant though the numbers with your students once or twice and then turn a flashcard or two over. Get students to continue chanting as you turn more and more cards over. Finally the children will chant to 9 without any cards showing.
This works fine early on, but isn’t a huge challenge since students already know how to “count” by rote. To increase the challenge, just put up a few numbers without starting at 1, for example, “6, 7, 8, 9” and have them chant those.
You can also put the card in reverse order to get students to count backwards. Start with “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and move on to counting down from 10 after the class is comfortable counting from 5.
Games like Flashcard Safari also still work nicely for teaching preschool EFL numbers and numerals. Put the numeral flashcards around the room and then call them out. Have students twist in their chairs or turn around to point at or “photograph” the correct numbers.
Another simple listening game to use with numerals is Hands on Heads. You can divide the numbers on the board into two sets. Then divide the class into two groups and assign each group a set of numbers. Call out the numbers and have students put their hands on their heads when they hear their numbers.
Coloring Dictations: Getting children to color in the numerals also works great. You can start first with coloring in 1 to 5 and later use 1 to 10. You can reuse these colored-in materials for Listen and Point as well.
Back-writing: Children also really enjoy back-writing as well. Have children write a number on their partner’s back for them to guess. You can start by showing them what to write and later letting them choose.
Play-doh: You can also help children develop their dexterity as well their numbers with Play-doh or plasticine. Give out balls of playdoh and show students how to make long snakes of the stuff. Then tell students to make a number with it.
This activity is slow, so don’t expect to get through all the numbers at one time! Also try to give out just one color so students can’t trade and mix colors.
Books: There are a few books that work really well for teaching EFL preschoolers about numerals. One classic is My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle (video). It’s great for getting students to match the meaning of numerals with dots and images. This book can also work well with younger students, too.
These were just a few ideas for a really exciting age to teach preschool EFL numbers and numerals. What other songs, books and games do you like to use with your students?
As always, don’t forget to like, share, and comment below!
