About this game

Match an amount to its digit

Match an amount to its digit: a free Pre-K math game for ages 4-5. Each round draws 5 questions; instructions are read aloud and every answer is checked and explained.

How it plays and why it helps

A child can count eight seashells perfectly and still not know which squiggle means eight. Match an amount to its digit closes that gap. Each Pre-K card shows a group of objects, lemons, books, seashells, balls or carrots, sometimes in a line and sometimes scattered. The instruction is read aloud: count them and choose the digit that shows how many. Four digits are offered, the amounts run from 2 to 9, a round has five cards, and every answer is checked.

Counting gives a spoken number; the digit is how that number is written. Linking the two is the bridge between counting and reading math. The hint describes it well: count one by one, then find the digit for the last number you say.

One pair deserves attention. On the card with six carrots, 9 is among the choices, and 6 and 9 are the same shape turned over. Draw both in the air together and ask, "Where is the round part, top or bottom?" Then praise the careful look: "You checked which way it turns."

Aligned with

  • P-MATH 1 Child knows number names and the count sequence.
  • P-MATH 5 Child associates a quantity with written numerals up to 5 and begins to write numbers.
  • P-MATH 2 Child recognizes the number of objects in a small set.

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