{FREE} Candy Corn Counting: Printable Math Mats
Looking for a way to put all that candy corn to good use? How about some candy corn counting? These adorable counting mats can be used with actual candy corn pieces, or with play dough. Either way, your kids will love learning the numbers 1-10 and practicing their counting skills with these fun printable mats.
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Counting and Number Recognition Skills:
These colorful counting mats can help kids practice and develop a wide range of early math skills. Plus, it provides a tasty treat after all that hard math work and practice!
Using these candy corn counting mats and hands on manipulatives, kids will learn to name and recognize the numbers 1-10.
In addition, kids will strengthen their understanding of cardinality as they see that the number 5 means there are exactly 5 pieces of candy, and so on.
You might also like these simple candy corn number puzzles.
Plus, they will have a hands on visual of one-to-one correspondence as they pick up and count each piece of candy (or play dough).
You could also combine these mats with a simple ten frame to help them visualize the numbers and pieces of candy in relation to the number ten.
You can also work on number order by having your kids place the counting mats in order from least to greatest.
How to Prep the Candy Corn Counting Mats:
Begin by printing out the mats in the pdf file. There are ten mats, two per page.
Then, I suggest you laminate these pages for added durability. Then you can use them again each fall!
Finally, cut the mats out and place in a stack with a bowl of candy corn for kids to practice their counting skills.
If you don’t have candy corn (or just don’t want to use candy) you could also complete the activity using play dough.
Ways to Use the Hands On Counting Mats:
There are lots of ways you can use these counting mats. First, this would make a simple math center in your classroom once kids know how to use the mats.
Another idea is to have these as an independent, early finisher option. I would mix the cards up and have kids put them in order first. Then they count out candy pieces to match each jar.
If you homeschool, this is a fun math activity your younger ones can complete independently while you help older kids.
For kids who are ready, use the mats to practice simple addition after kids have counted out the correct number of candy pieces for each mat.
Point to (or set aside) two of the mats and ask, “How many pieces of candy corn are there altogether?”
Or practice comparing numbers by asking things like, “Which jar has more, the five jar or the eight jar?” Or simply point to two mats and ask “Which jar has more, how do you know?”
Lastly, introduce even and odd numbers by having your kids sort each pile of candy corn into two groups. Does it divide into 2 equal groups? Then it’s even! No? Then it’s odd! Then compare your set of even numbers and odd numbers. What do they notice?
Looking for more hands on math with candy corn? I’ve got you covered!
See even more candy corn math ideas for older kids in this post (with free printables!)
Or find tons of ideas for math with other types of candy in this huge list.
Or grab this adorable set of candy corn counting mats at the link below. Enjoy!
