Letter N Preschool Activities (And Free Preschool Lesson Plan: N is for Numbers!)
Through games, music, books, worksheets, and more, today we learn all about the letter N! These creative Letter N activities for preschool are centered around the free preschool lesson plan N is for Numbers. It’s a fun way to teach kids about numbers…an important topic!
This lesson continues our alphabet lesson plan series and is intended to help make your experience teaching preschool in your home easier, educational, and more fun.
Preschool at Home
The best part of doing preschool at home is the chance to teach my kids (and whatever buddies are with us) the things that really matter, laugh together, and shower them with love at this young and important age. My hope is that these lesson plans and activities help you in your efforts to do the same.
If you haven’t seen my quick tips for getting started with successful home preschool, check them out.
Use and share these plans to talk, sing, read, write, and play your way through the alphabet; these kinds of activities are the foundation of building strong readers. You can use our full lesson plans, or, of course, pick individual activities to do with the Littles in your life. I am also a budget-friendly Mama, so no worries there: our activities are always easy on the pocketbook. Now, let’s get to it!
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Visit the Preschool Lesson Plan Index to see what free plans are published or in the works!
Update: You can now get ALL of the Alphabet Lesson Plans, Checklists, and Printables, (plus Bonus Ideas and 75+ exclusive preschool printables!) all in one budget-friendly digital product…A to Z and Beyond! Preschool Curriculum.
INTRODUCTION
Gather on the floor for circle time and start with a welcome song. We have been singing, “Hello to All the Children of the World”. Each week we briefly spotlight one of the countries or geographical features in the song.
Last week we talked about deserts, so this week we learned a little about towns to go with the line, “And children in the towns.” We talked about how towns are places where a lot of people live. Another name for town is city.
Some of the things we might have in a town are homes, stores, libraries, and schools.
We finished by finding our town on a map of our state, as well as the capital city of our state. You should be able to find your state map on this site.
Write: Letter N Writing in Cornmeal
I introduced what the uppercase Letter N looks like with its straight shapes and the lowercase n with its straight and curvy shapes. Another way to talk about lowercase n is to say, “Straight, little hill.”
Because m (that we learned about last time) and n are so similar, we compared the two letters side by side.
Then I gave my Little a Tupperware with cornmeal in it. He really liked the texture of the cornmeal.
We practiced writing uppercase and lowercase N. Then we wrote some of the other letters he knows.
Bonus…the cornmeal is edible if you happen to have a baby around!
Play: Sound of the Letter N
Next, I introduced what the letter N sounds like. Then we played a very simple game to practice.
I say a word. If it starts with the sound of the letter N, put thumbs up. If the word starts with a different sound, put thumbs down.
You can take turns thinking of words as well.
Talk: N is for Numbers!
Sometimes preschoolers confuse letters and numbers, so we had a quick talk about what numbers are. While letters make sounds and come together to make words, numbers tell us how many there are.
We practiced counting up to thirty. (If you don’t want to spend as much time here, count to a lower number.)
Read: Counting Book
When it comes to counting books for preschoolers, there are so many good ones! Here are a few that we recommend:
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Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth
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In Ten Apples Up On Top! by Dr. Suess,
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My Truck Is Stuck! by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk is a winner at our house! Kids love the characters, repetition, and mischievous beavers working behind the scenes. This is one we read over and over.
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The bold numbers in Big Fat Hen
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Count backwards in this getting ready for bed book: Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang.
Play: Sort and Count
Before preschool, I had gathered one toy car, two plastic frogs, three batteries, four crayons, five paper clips, and six safety pins. (Of course, you can use whatever small objects you have around.) Mix all the objects together.
I also had six cups numbered one through six. (You could write on paper cups or tape numbers to regular cups.)
First, Little #4 put the cups in order.
Next, she sorted the objects into groups.
Last, she counted the objects in each group and placed them in the corresponding cup.
This activity is great practice of critical math skills including sorting, one-to-one correspondence, and recognizing written numbers.
Play: Roll and Toss
We followed up our sorting game with a connected game that also utilizes skills of one-to-one correspondence and recognizing written numbers. Additionally, this game used coordination.
For this game, we used the same six numbered cups, plus a die and a ping pong ball. To make it a bit easier or utilize the larger muscle groups, use a bigger ball and numbered buckets or boxes.
To play, Little #4 rolled a die. After counting the dots, she tried to throw the ping pong ball into the corresponding cup.
This is hard! She got as many chances as she needed, and she was so excited when she got the ball into the cup. She wanted to keep playing until she had rolled every number!
Read and Sing: Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Sometimes it’s fun to “Sing a Story.” This is a great one!
Five Green and Speckled Frogs is a classic counting backwards song that I have sung since I was little. What kid doesn’t love eating bugs? “Yum! Yum!”
Here is video of the song so you can learn the tune, if you don’t know it already.
The illustrations by Priscilla Burris are really fun in this book version: Five Green and Speckled Frogs: A Count-and-Sing Book
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As you sing, use your fingers to show how the number of frogs is getting smaller. Pause in between verses so kids can figure out how many fingers on their hands (and frogs in the book) are left.
Play: Numbers Memory
Memory is always a favorite at our house. This Number Memory game was no exception!
You can write out your own numbers or use this click-to-print Number Memory Free Printable. The lesson outline and printables are also included in the FREE LESSON PLAN CHECKLIST.
For an easier version of the game, use two sets of the written numbers. For a greater challenge, use one set of numbers and one set of domino dots.
Talk: Numbers are Everywhere!
We talked about some of the places we see and use numbers in day-to-day life. Some of these incidences include the grocery store, speed limits, cooking, telling time, keeping game scores, and even choosing a TV channel.
It is almost a game to think of as many ways to use numbers as possible, and it didn’t take long for us to discover that numbers are everywhere!
As part of this discussion, we also did a few simple story problems, like the following.
Simple Math Story Problems
- You pick five cherries. Then you eat two of them. How many cherries do you have left?
- Three kids are playing a game, and three more kids join. How many kids are playing the game now?
- There are four cookies. How can two people share them evenly?
- I have ten cents. I buy a pencil with five cents. How much money do I have left?
- There are three kids looking at a teacher. How many eyes are looking at a teacher.
When you begin doing these kinds of problems, use small numbers and go slowly from step to step. Help your child use fingers or other manipulatives to represent the problem.
Just do a few problems to help your preschoolers begin to see how we can work with numbers in real life.
These problems are also a fun and simple way to practice math during your everyday life. For example, during lunch you can ask a problem about how many carrots started on the plate and how many are left now. Encourage your child to think about number sense often.
Read: A Number Scavenger Hunt
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A Number Scavenger Hunt by Kerry Dinmont
If you can’t find this particular book, choose any book that shows numbers being used in real life, such as Curious George Lemonade Stand. Discuss numbers and ask questions while you read, like “How many cartons of lemonade are there?” “How many children are in the line?”
Write: Numbers Worksheet
We practiced writing, counting, and coloring with this Free Preschool Numbers Worksheet. Again, you can have the lesson outline and printables sent to your inbox in the FREE LESSON PLAN CHECKLIST.
You can print the worksheet back-to-back or keep it simpler by doing only the page with numbers 1-5.
Additionally, have your Littles find and trace the letter N on the worksheet. We found eight n’s on each page.
Sing: Count and Move
Most of this preschool lesson we have focused on numbers one through ten. We sang and marched along to Count and Move, which was a fun way to preview numbers 11-20 as well.
The song is simple and has a steady, catchy beat for marching, while the numbers flash large on the screen.
Eat: Foods that Start with the Letter N
Here are some snacks ideas of foods that start with the Letter N: nuts, Nutella on crackers or bread, nectarines, naan bread with humus (or mini sandwiches), nuggets, nachos, or noodles.
Alternately, you could serve whatever snack is convenient and have kids count them. How many pretzels are in your bag?
Play: Uno
We didn’t have time to play Uno during our Mommy Preschool, but it is a great follow-up activity for another time. It is also a fun way to fill any time you do have left at the end of your preschool time.
The simplicity of matching colors and numbers is made exciting through this timeless game. It’s also a fun way to introduce a few Spanish numbers: uno, dos, tres…
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SING: GOODBYE SONG
We closed up by reviewing our letter of the day, what Letter N looks and sounds like.
Lastly, we sang our goodbye song and see you next week!
Our next preschool lesson will be Letter O is for Ocean. It has a lot of fun activities!
Leave a comment and share how you include numbers and math concepts in your everyday parenting. Also, let me know what activities your Littles are enjoying, what types of posts you’d like to see, or any other questions or thoughts you have. I love hearing from you. Share pictures on social media using #lovinlifewithlittles. Thanks for visiting, and Happy Preschooling!
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Helpful share, thanku so much.
You’re welcome!