• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Main Menu
  • Free Printables
  • FREE Google Slides and Seesaw
  • Shop
  • Shop Login
  • Search
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Counting to 5 with Penguins for preschoolers

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. By clicking on these links I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Spread the love
  • 101
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

If there is one thing that can be said about preschoolers, no matter their skill level, it’s that their attention spans cannot be depended upon. That means that an activity that planned on enjoying for 10 minutes is often finished in less than one. But in contrast, there are also activities you would expect to last only moments that can capture their attention for an hour or more. That doesn’t mean that one activity is better or worse than another though. Often tiny bursts of learning can be more effective than an longer activity. As we were counting to 5 with penguins, I quickly realized that this was going to be one of those tiny bursts of learning. Rather than fight with it, I went with the flow and later realized she was paying more attention than I thought.

learning with penguins

Materials needed for Counting to 5 with Penguins:

One recipe for play dough (see below)

One set of at least 5 penguin buttons

White play dough recipe:

3 cups cornstarch

1 1/2 cups hot water

3 Tbsp. oil

3 Tbsp. cream of tartar

Glitter (optional)

Mix all of the ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat until they come together in a play dough-like mass. For me this took 30 seconds.

Let sit in the pan until mostly cool.

Knead with your hands until it is smooth and not sticky.

Because it’s corn starch, I’m not sure how long the dough will last. Ours has been in a zip top bag in our play dough drawer for a week and it’s still fine, but I don’t know if it will last as long as the regular play dough that we make. Our dough did turn a bit crumbly in the bag, but you can press it back together with a minute or two of gentle kneading.

Counting to 5 with Penguins:

I’m all for simple and this activity definitely fits that definition.

Shiloh and I sat down at the table with our play dough and penguins and counted the buttons as we pressed them into the ‘snow’.

Penguin is a new word for Shiloh, it actually sounds something like ‘nen-nin’ and it was fun to listen to her repeat the word as she listened to me counting.

Just like we did with our apple counting activity, we put our finger on each object as we counted it, so that Shiloh would understand that we can use numbers to refer to lots of different objects. She still does not understand one-to-one correspondence nor numerals, but the best way for her to learn is to continue repeating similar activities with slightly different objects.

Even though the activity only lasted a few minutes, I noticed that she was very interested in returning to the penguins when her sister was playing with them later on. She started pressing them into the play dough the same way that I had shown her, so I know that she was paying attention.

5 penguins

I hope you will enjoy this and the other great Polar Animal Activities from the Playful Preschool team!

Polar Animal Literacy Activities:

Walrus Dive for Letters from Capri + 3
Polar Bear Paw Walk Preschool Alphabet Game by Growing Book by Book

Polar Animal Science and Sensory Activities:

How do Animals Stay Warm by Rainy Day Mum
Arctic World by Learning 2 Walk

Polar Animal Movement Activities

Polar Animals Gross Motor Games by Still Playing School

Polar Animal Math Games and Activities:

Polar Bear Math Game by The Educators’ Spin On It
Polar Bear Activities and Books for Preschool by The Preschool Toolbox Blog


Spread the love
  • 101
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  • 101
    Shares
Previous Post: « Greater Than/Less Than Free Penguin Printable for Kindergarten
Next Post: Butterfly Life-Cycle War Card Game for Sequencing »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  1. Jess says

    November 30, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    Hi, where did you purchase the penguins?
    thanks!

    Reply
    • Kim Staten says

      February 10, 2018 at 10:30 pm

      I picked them up in the sewing section of a craft store a couple years ago.

      Reply
  2. Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says

    January 9, 2015 at 7:54 pm

    I never thought of doing white playdough for snow play. Love it!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 9, 2015 at 10:37 pm

      We had so much fun with it! It doesn’t seem to last as long as regular play dough, but it provided a few cheap play times!

      Reply
  3. Danielle @ Mom Inspired Life says

    January 7, 2015 at 10:30 am

    Great activity! The penguin buttons are so cute. I will have to make your sparkly play dough. It would be a hit in our house.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:59 am

      Enjoy the play dough!

      Reply
  4. Theresa says

    January 7, 2015 at 10:08 am

    Those penguins are adorable. I love the fun way you used them in a learning activity. I imagine that would also turn into long sessions of pretend play after the counting was done.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:59 am

      Oh yes, those penguins were fantastic for pretend play!

      Reply
  5. Cerys from Rainy Day Mum says

    January 7, 2015 at 9:46 am

    What a fun way to play and learn at the same time – I love things that they go off and play themselves afterwards – we’re at the stage where T takes her doll to her play school at home and does the activities with her.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:57 am

      That sounds like fun! I’m sure her doll is ‘learning’ a lot!

      Reply
  6. Natasha says

    January 7, 2015 at 8:02 am

    I love that after a learning experience they go off and show that they were paying attention. So many times it feels like our lessons didn’t go well but then they show something of what they learned to their sisters.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 7, 2015 at 9:05 am

      Very true! They catch on to things even when we think they didn’t!

      Reply
  7. Devany says

    January 7, 2015 at 7:45 am

    Ahhhh, those buttons are ADORABLE! Your play dough looks so inviting with the glitter! Great idea!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 7, 2015 at 9:04 am

      I love the buttons too!

      Reply
  8. Amanda Boyarshinov says

    January 7, 2015 at 6:35 am

    Awe – super cute. I’m ready to make some home-made playdough this week. I had to pick up more cream-of-tartar from the store!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 7, 2015 at 9:09 am

      I’ve bought a big, bulk bag of cream of tartar on Amazon. It’s the only way to have enough for our play dough addiction!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Click to go to the Life Over C's Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
Click to go to the Life Over C's blog shop.

 

Click to go to the Life Over C's Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
Click to go to the Life Over C's blog shop.

 

  • About Us
  • Disclosures
  • Having Trouble?

Copyright © 2021 · Thyme Theme by Restored 316

© 2014 Kim Staten All Rights Reserved
Privacy Policy