Match a group of objects to a dot card

💡 How it plays and why it helps

Dice teach children to read dots long before school does. Match a group of objects to a dot card builds on that. A Pre-K child sees a scattered group, two butterflies or five stars, and four cards with dots arranged like the spots on a die. The question is read aloud: which card has as many dots as there are butterflies? Your child taps a card. Five groups make a round, from two to five objects, and every answer is checked and explained: one dot for each butterfly.

Two counts are needed here, one for the objects and one for the dots, and the number has to be held in mind between them. That memory step is what turns counting into comparing. The die layout helps, since four dots in a square and five with a center dot can be recognized without counting.

The neighbor cards are always offered. A child who counts the stars, then starts on the dots, may lose the first number on the way and take the card with one dot too many. Ask, "How many stars was it, again?" Praise the holding on: "You kept the number in your head."