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St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and there’s no better way to celebrate than a super fun preschool math activity! Preschoolers will love sorting, counting, and graphing with a little leprechaun’s favorite food.
This no-prep math activity is perfect for your young learner.
St. Patrick’s Day Preschool Math
When I was teaching, one of my favorite things to do with my class was holiday activities. I mean, who doesn’t love a good holiday activity and let’s be real……………… it usually ALWAYS involved some kind of yummy treat.
When St. Patrick’s Day came around, I was extra excited because my favorite cereal of all time is Lucky Charms.
This St. Patrick’s Day, I decided that Grace was finally old enough to try Lucky Charms. I couldn’t just give it to her without feeling a little guilty. I’m not one of those Moms that doesn’t allow my kids to have sweets, but I do like to keep my kids sugar intake to a minimum.
I had to figure out a way to let her try it, not feel guilty, and make it meaningful. So, I thought if I could play fun St. Patrick’s Day activities with my 1st grade students using Lucky Charms when I was teaching, I could totally do the same with Grace.
I got on my computer and whipped up a few Lucky Charms math activities for a 3-year-old, went to the store and bought the biggest box of Lucky Charms I could find, and my St. Patrick’s Day fun was back again. Oh………….. and Grace was excited about it too.
What You’ll Need
- St. Patrick’s Day Preschool Math Printable (download below)
- Lucky Charms
What You’ll Do
The first thing you are going to do is print the St. Patrick’s Day Preschool Math Printable.
Then, pour some Lucky Charms in a bowl. I actually sorted the Lucky Charms first to make sure there were enough marshmallows. I also wanted to make sure there was at least one of each kind of marshmallow in the bowl. I also made sure there were no more than 10 of each marshmallow in the bowl. Once I did that I put the cereal back in the bowl, and we were ready to start.
St. Patrick’s Day Sorting
We started our math session with this fun sorting activity. I had Grace sort out all the Lucky Charms marshmallows into the correct pot of gold.
Grace was so excited to do this! She even started stacking the marshmallows to form a tower if she had enough to do so.
St. Patrick’s Day Counting:
Once she sorted all the marshmallows, we moved on to the counting sheet. We talked a lot about this sheet before she got started. This was the first time she has ever really used a 10 frame. We did the first one together, and she worked on the rest by herself.
The counting page was a little more challenging for her than the sorting one. I could tell that she was really concentrating, and she was so proud of herself when she finished.
St. Patrick’s Day Graphing
The graphing sheet was her favorite. Once she graphed all the marshmallows, she was so excited to tell me that three of the marshmallows only had one in the graph.
I asked her a few questions like “Which marshmallow has the most?” Once she answered, I told her she could eat those. Once she figured out I was going to let her eat the marshmallows after she answered a question, Grace started to give up information about the marshmallows on the graph. It was amazing!
I’m so glad that I was able to share some fun St. Patrick’s Day learning with my daughter. I feel like she really did learn a lot during this activity.
I hope you try this simple and educational activity with your child today!
Download Your Printable
Side Note
When I write posts that use some kind of sugary treat or candy I often times get comments from parents saying their child would just eat the treats and not do the activity. Here are a few tips that I have personally used for years when I was teaching that actually work.
Tip 1 – Do the activity after you feed your child a big meal. They’ll be less likely to want to eat anything if their tummy is already full.
Tip 2 – Before you begin the activity let your child have a few pieces of the treat or candy. Then tell them they can have a few more pieces once they have completed the activity.
Tip 3 – If your child eats a few pieces while they are doing the activity it’s ok. I just remind my daughter that if she continues to eat the treats then we won’t be able to finish the activity.
More St. Patrick’s Day Fun
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Jayme Losch
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I can’t get the pages to download–has the link been deactivated? 🙂
No. It’s working fine for me. Can you try from another browser?