Please welcome Alex from The Kindergarten Connection! She’s sharing a free printable math activity for kids, perfect for practicing one-to-one correspondence, counting, and fine motor skills!

We do a lot of counting in my classroom. In fact, you will hear us counting in some form or another every day! We rote count, yes, but another skill we build daily is our ability to count with one-to-one correspondence.

We practice counting objects in many hands-on ways, but one of our favorite activities to do are clip cards. These fruit-themed count and clip cards are a fun way to build your child’s counting skills while strengthening fine motor muscles as well!

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Counting Activity: Fruit Count and Clip Cards

Preparing the Clip Cards

To prepare the clip cards, simple print the download (below) and laminate the cards. You will definitely want to laminate them, as that helps them last longer and hold up against the clothespins.

After cutting them apart, all you need to do is grab some clothespins, and you are ready to play!

Using the Clip Cards

I first used the cards in a small group. We placed the cards in one pile and clothespins in another. We took turns grabbing a card, naming the fruit (this is fun for building vocabulary as well), and then clipping the matching number. We kept going until all the cards had been clipped.

After I have introduced the cards, I keep them out on a shelf or in a zip-top bag for kids to grab and use independently. They love to be able to grab an activity of their choice, and anything with clothespins is always a hit!

You could choose to make the cards self-checking by marking a dot on the back of the correct number. That way after kids clip them, they can check their answer. (If you do this, you will want to print on cardstock so that they aren’t see-through).

Grab Your Set

Ready to work on counting sets to 12? Grab your free set of fruit count and clip cards here.

Alex is an early childhood educator with a passion for making learning fun and engaging. She is the founder of The Kindergarten Connection, where you will find ideas and inspiration for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. You can find several more clothespin activities on her site, including the popular dinosaur count and clip cards.