Elf Visual Discrimination Game for Preschoolers

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This FREE Christmas Visual Discrimination game is perfect for your math center this season. It includes a spinner and a recording sheet, which you can find at the end of this post.

Elf Visual Discrimination Game for Preschoolers

Benefits of Visual Discrimination Games

Before I mention the benefits of visual discrimination games, I would like to define what visual discrimination is.

Visual discrimination is the ability to classify and detect differences in shapes, symbols, and objects by their attributes (color, pattern, form, texture, size, orientation, and position) to perform daily tasks.

The use of visual discrimination games is one of the most effective techniques to help preschoolers develop essential abilities such as:

Distinguish differences between letters and words.
Develop their phonemic awareness and phonics to connect letters and sounds, and then remember the sequence of sounds to blend the letters to read a word or phrase.
Eye-hand coordination and spatial relations to cut, paste, copy, do puzzles, trace, color, build structures, and play games like Leapfrog and Hopscotch.
Navigate through different places like mazes, the classroom, the playground, and stores, and locate objects.
Identifying and naming colors, shapes, numbers, and letters.
Building with blocks and Legos, ordering toys, doing and recognizing patterns, adding, and subtracting.
Strengthen observational skills to sort, match, duplicate, and categorize.
Observing, interpreting, and understanding their surroundings.
Develop their visual memory.
Learning how to interpret body language and facial expressions to enhance their social skills, follow directions, and develop empathy, friendships, and positive social interactions.
Identify people, animals, and objects by their features., and be able to use words that describe their attributes.

Christmas Visual Discrimination Game

Your preschoolers will enjoy this Christmas Visual Discrimination Game while they learn. It’s ready for you to print and use at the bottom of this post!

This Elf Visual Discrimination activity can be used in many ways, such as:

Small group activity.
Math center option.
Quiet area option.
Take-home activity.

Setting Up the Game

You only need a few supplies to set up this game, which are:

To set up this game, you need a few supplies:

Elf Visual Discrimination Game (found at the bottom of this post).
Printer.
White cardstock.
Laminator, and laminator pouches, or
Dry-erase pocket.
Scissors.
Brads paper fastener or transparent spinner.
Dot-to-Dot or dry-erase markers, mini erasers, red and green Bingo chips, buttons, or other small manipulatives.

Print each page using white cardstock. Cut out the spinner and laminate it. Laminate the recording sheet or place it in a dry-erase pocket to make it last longer. Attach the arrow with a Brad paper fastener or use a transparent spinner.

How to Play This Game

Students can play the Elf Visual Discrimination Game independently or in pairs.

To play in pairs, preschoolers must use two types of markers. They will take turns spinning the spinner and marking it on the corresponding picture on the recording sheet using Dot-to-Dot or dry-erase markers, mini erasers, red and green Bingo chips, buttons, or any other small manipulative.

If the spinner falls in a no longer available picture, the child loses the turn. The first child who places five consecutive markers in any direction on the recording sheet wins the game.

Preschoolers will spin the spinner and cover a corresponding picture on the mat to play independently. This continues until they cover five consecutive pictures or the entire mat if they want.

Extension Activities

To extend the activity, you can:

Have the children count the number of pictures of each type they see and make a graph with the numbers.
Write down their names each time they win.
Make a sequencing game by cutting out the squares of the recording sheet.
Use the pictures to teach vocabulary beginning sounds, and spellinging words.
Describe the pictures using attributes.

Christmas Storybooks

You can never forget to include books in every activity you do, adding great books related to the season or theme to your library, centers, and book baskets, and, of course, reading them daily. It’s one of the most essential tools you should have to help your preschooler’s learning process develop fully.

Below are some of my favorite books for this season. Most can be found at your local library or used bookstore, but you can also order them on Amazon to add to your collection.

You can order them through my Amazon affiliate links by clicking the titles below for easy access.

All I Want for Christmas Is Ewe by Ross Rossner combines beautiful illustrations, charming animal puns, and the evergreen message of love. This book is a marvelous way to celebrate the season and share your love for each other.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on the Farm by Craig Manning. In this Christmas picture book for kids, readers will love sharing in the excitement before Santa Claus arrives in this charming twist on the classic holiday story, which is filled with sweet farm animals, delightful rhymes, and beautiful illustrations.

The Christmas Wish by Lori Ever. Long ago, a brave little girl named Anja wanted to be one of Santa’s elves. So, she leaves a note for her family and helps her elderly neighbor prepare for the holiday. Then, she straps on her skis and heads out into the snowy landscape. A generous trim size, matte cover, extraordinary photographs, and foiled title make this a special book for the holiday season.

Little Red Sleigh by Erin Guendelsberger. This heartwarming book is full of winter joy and Christmas magic and will remind you and your kids that no dream is out of reach if you believe.

The Littest Christmas Tree by R. A. Herman. There are only five days until Christmas, and the Littlest Christmas Tree is still waiting for a home. On Christmas Eve, its wish comes true when the man who runs the Christmas tree stand takes it home to his family.

A Silly Milly Christmas by Sheri Wall. With plenty of rhyming and repetition, this book is perfect for reading aloud, early learning, and animal lovers everywhere.

Llama Llama Jingle Bells by Anna Dewdney. With short and simple rhyming text, the Llama Llama board books introduce Llama Llama to children before they’re ready for longer full-length stories. And their small size and durable pages are perfect for little hands.

Goodnight Santa: A Bedtime Christmas Book for Kids by Michelle Robinson follows Santa Claus’s journey from his workshop in the North Pole to his magical sleigh and flying reindeer, where he brings gifts of every shape and size!

How to Catch Santa Claus by Alice Walstead is poised to become a new holiday tradition. This merry picture book is filled with silly rhymes and illustrations sure to delight young readers and educators alike with STEAM concepts and classic hilarity and chaos.

Pin It for Later

If you are in a rush and don’t have time to read the post and download the printable but want to save it for later, pin it to Christmas or the math board on Pinterest to have it available when you need it.

I hope your kids enjoy this game as much as mine did! And don’t forget to grab your FREE game. Just click on the link below for an immediate download.

Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.

Love,

P.D. Please let me know if you like this game worked for you. My goal is to help you in any way I can, and I’m not too fond of anything better than posting something that you might find helpful.