For today’s activity, we used some of the supplies from recycle bin and some stuff we had at home to create simple counting activity for toddler. Counting roses activity helps with learning numbers 1-5 and doubles as fine motor skill practice.
Counting roses activity has been done in our house before Valentine’s day but you can use it any time of the year!
Materials for Counting Roses Activity
Few items you will need to prepare in advance for counting roses activity:
- small medicine bottles from recycle bin (although any small cups / containers or glasses you have on hands would work as well)
- mini roses
- self-adhesive paper
- ziplock bag for storage
How to set up counting activity for Valentine’s day?
Start by cleaning up small bottles / containers / glasses. Whichever you have on hand is fine!
Cut little hearts from self-adhesive paper and write numbers 1-5 on each heart. When done, simply stuck hearts on little bottles. If you don’t have self-adhesive paper, you can cut out hearts from ordinary printer paper and glue those hearts on bottles.
You will also need to separate mini roses because they usually come with 5 or more tied together to form a bouquet.
For our roses counting activity, you will need to prepare 5 mini bottles and 15 mini roses to learn 1-5.
If you want to expand this activity and learn counting numbers 1-10, you will need 10 mini bottles and 55 mini roses!
Let’s Play with roses and learn how to count!
I have laid our counting bottles on the table and placed mini roses next to them.
My younger girl would then read the number on each of the bottles and place coresponding number of roses inside a bottle. Each of the little bottles turned into a vase holding roses!
Very simple and effective hands-on learning to count!
For children who still can’t identify signs for each number, you can add little dots next to the number coresponding to each number on the bottle. Let them count the dots and add as many flowers!
When child is done with counting, you can simply put everything used for this activity inside a zip-lock bag and reuse the same stuff next year (or with a next child!).
We used these same mini roses for another fine motor activity – we planted a garden! We prefer to use same materials in multiple activities, makes it worth the money we invested in a purchase!
What can a child learn when they work on this counting activity?
As they play with roses, kids work on several skills:
- fine motor skills – the smaller the opening on the bottle / glass or container, the harder for a child to place a rose inside
- math – counting and identifying a number
- language development
- problem solving
- following directions
- patience and concentration
Extend the playtime with counting books
How many do I love you? I love you more than 5 lovely llamas love licking lollipops! I love you more than 6 sleepy seals love snoozing in the sunshine! This counting book is like a valentine to your little one. As you practice counting up to 10, discover more loving messages and entertaining animals. Find the book here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
How many kisses does a tired baby need? Each page counts down starting from ten kisses to one final kiss on the last page. Find out in this adorable kiss-and-count board book! Find the book here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
What to play next?
We played with this activity for Valentine’s day but you can also set roses counting activity for Mother’s day! Wouldn’t it be good match for both occasions?
Here are few suggestions for follow up activities to keep your child having fun learning:
- textured heart (art project)
- heart button snake (fine motor project)
- red slime for Valentine’s day (sensory project)
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