Polar Bear Counting & Writing Mats for Preschoolers
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I love polar bears. They are beautiful, powerful, and different! They inspired me to create these FREE Polar Bear Counting and Writing Mats to provide your preschoolers with a hands-on and fun counting and writing activity this winter. They would be the perfect addition to your winter math center!
The Polar Bear Counting & Writing Mats pack offers one page for each number 0 – 20. It is available at the end of this post.
Importance of Counting, One-to-One Correspondence, and Writing Skills
Preschoolers must understand math concepts to set the foundation for developing their number and math skills in the future. When children develop a strong foundation in number sense, they will be able to build their problem-solving skills, which are extremely important for their future.
Now, counting involves memorizing numbers in the correct order. Many preschoolers can count to five, some up to 10, and a few can count to 20 or higher, but they must match their counting abilities with their one-to-one correspondence skills.
One-to-one correspondence is the ability to match objects to the correct number. This means that children need to understand that they need to say “one” when they count one object, “two” when they count two objects, and so forth.
When both skills, counting and one-to-one correspondence, work together, children have a better opportunity to develop those essential skills to set up a strong foundation for more complex mathematical operations in the future. Now, there is also an opportunity to tie these skills with writing. Children can trace the numbers in this case, and those with more advanced skills can copy the words next to them. That way, they can practice their writing abilities as well.
Polar Bear Counting & Writing Mats
This activity is effortless to put together, and you will only need a handful of materials, which are:
- FREE Polar Bear Counting & Writing Mats printable (found at the end of this post).
- White paper or cardstock.
- Laminator, and laminator pouches, or
- Dry-erase pockets.
- Polar Bear Mini Erasers.
- Pencils, markers, colored pencils, crayons, or dry-erase markers.
If you want to use the activities once, you only need to print the selected page on regular printer paper. If you want to use the pages multiple times, print them out on white cardstock, laminate them, or place them in dry-erase pockets.
Place the pages and polar bear mini erasers in your math and writing centers, and invite your preschoolers to read the number on each page aloud, count the dots in the grid, select the same amount of mini erasers, place them on the ice, and trace and write the number. They need to use dry-erase markers to trace and copy the number words. If they want to copy the word on a sheet of paper, they need to use pencils, markers, colored pencils, or crayons.
How to Use The Polar Bear Mats
These Polar Bear Counting & Writing Mats can be used in many ways, such as:
- Small group activity
- Math center option
- Writing center
- Take home game
- Quiet area option
Before you place the mats in the different centers, it is recommended that you introduce them to your preschoolers first. Circle time might be the perfect time to do this. There is no point in placing them in centers if they don’t know how to use them first.
An excellent way to do this is by:
- Introduce the mats to the children and talk about each number and its different characteristics, such as its shape.
- Talk about small and large numbers, such as number 2 having fewer pictures than number 5 because it is smaller.
- Explain what they have to do.
Benefits of The Polar Bear Mats
This activity will allow preschoolers to practice these skills:
- Number recognition (identifying the number on the mat before counting).
- Counting abilities (counting the ghosts).
- Fine motor development (tracing and writing number words).
- Hand-eye coordination and control (placing the manipulatives in the squares).
- Concentration skills (focusing on the different tasks).
- One-to-one correspondence (counting the manipulatives to be added).
- Language development (counting out loud number sequence).
- Tracing and Writing abilities (tracing the numbers and copying them).
Books About Polar Bears
Read polar bear-related books with your children. As I said, this practice will benefit your children in many ways.
You can find them at your local library, used book store, or on Amazon. For your convenience, I added my direct Amazon links to the titles. If you like anything, click on it, which will take you directly to the site.
All Things Polar Bears for Kids by Animal Reads is a colorful book filled with captivating real-life photographs that combines fun with education to help young readers explore the world of polar bears.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Jill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. This book uses the critical pre-reading concepts of rhyme, rhythm, and repetition to help children read independently.
Are You a Polar Bear? by Andrew Gabriel. After a long slumber, a polar bear cub wakes in his den to the snowy world outside. There’s no one around, not even his mom, and he can’t remember what she looks like! The little cub journeys out to find her, and along the way, he meets many arctic creatures that are not like him.
- Polar Bears by Laura Marsh. This book uses fascinating facts and beautiful images to help children learn about polar bears.
- If I Knew a Polar Bear by Karen Sutula is a beautifully illustrated 20-page book that is a fun poem about polar bears and other arctic animals.
- Polar Bear Island by Lindsay Bonilla is a cute story about a bear who doesn’t want to share the island with penguins. It delivers a gentle message of inclusivity.
- All About Polar Bears by EDventure Reading. This book teaches children about polar bears’ bodies, habitats, behaviors, and more through engaging text and beautiful full-color photography.
- Hush Little Polar Bear by Jeff Mack. Children follow the dream of a baby polar bear from the back of a whale to a land of tall grass and happily right back to his bed.
- The Polar Bear’s Home by Lara Bergen is a storybook showing how global warming affects two baby polar bear cubs and their families. It also includes tips for kids on what they can do to help slow global warming.
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 one of your Pinterest boards to have it available when needed.
I hope you enjoy these mats and that they help your preschoolers practice their counting skills. To grab your printable, click on the link below and type your information. Don’t worry—you won’t be subscribed twice if you are already a friend.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.D. Please let me know if you want me to create anything special. I aim to help you however I can, and I would love you to find something useful on my site.
By the way, if you are thinking about changing the décor in your classroom this spring but don’t want to spend a lot of money, I invite you to check out the sets I offer in my store HERE.
