These free printable Valentine’s Day counting clip cards are a fun, low-prep way to work on your child’s counting, number recognition, and fine motor skills.
Children learn from reputation and benefit from repeated exposure to numbers. To help your little learner practice counting, be sure to download these free Valentine’s Day counting cards in English and Spanish and these Valentine’s number building puzzles.
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How to print and and use count and clip cards
Counting clip cards, also called count and clip cards, are a fun and engaging way to practice counting and number recognition.
Counting clip cards help your child develop and improve:
- Number sense
- Counting abilities
- Number recognition
- Subitizing skills
- Fine motor skills
Subitizing is the ability to instantly recognize small quantities without consciously counting them (for example, how you immediately know that you rolled a 3 on a die).
Fine motor skills are enhanced when your child uses a close pin to “clip” their answer. Opening a clothespin is hard work for little fingers! If you don’t have a clothespin, don’t worry. Your child can mark the answers with a manipulative, like a counting bear, pompom, or nature treasure.
Materials needed for counting clip cards
You don’t need much time or materials to print and use this low-prep activity.
- Your free printable. The download is located further down the post.
- Paper or cardstock. If you’re not laminating, use cardstock. If you are laminating, I recommend 32 lb “premium” paper. It has a surprisingly non-premium price, is thicker than regular printer paper, and is bright white for vibrant images.
- Laminator and laminating pouches. These are optional, but highly recommended. Printables typically only last for a couple of uses with young children if they’re not laminated.
- Scissors or a paper trimmer/cutter. I use this paper trimmer.
- A clothespin or manipulative to mark answers. If your pages are laminated, your child can use a dry erase marker or (even better) a dry erase crayon.
We recently discovered Stabilo Woody crayons/pencils and they’re amazing. I wish I’d known about them when I was still in the classroom. They’re basically a wax crayon inside a large wood pencil body that’s easy for children to grasp. They’re water soluble and can be used as watercolor pencils or in lieu of a dry erase marker.
Stabilo Woody crayons wipe off easily with a very slightly damp cloth or towel. Unlike dry erase markers, Woodies have no stink and no ink to stain clothes and hands. They are a great tool for your homeschool preschool supply box that you can use again and again without worrying about caps being left off and markers that arrive virtually dry, even though they’re fresh from the box.
Even if you have a clothespin and don’t need them for this particular activity, check out the Stabilo Woody line.
- Washable
- XXL lead applies as much pigment as 8 colored pencils at once
- Large width ideal for smaller hands
How to use counting clip cards
Your little one will be enjoying these printable Valentine’s counting clip cards in just a few minutes!
First, download your printable and print the pages you want. The cards have numbers 1-12 with 4 numbers per page.
Laminate the pages before cutting them out. This saves you from cutting twice!
Cut the cards out. The image below shows these Valentine’s counting cards, but the process is the same:
Count, clip, and enjoy! I like to demonstrate counting to my daughter by pointing at each image in turn with my index finger. I count aloud, moving from left to right, top to bottom in preparation for reading. We count each card together, then I ask her “Do you see the number __?” and she clips her guess. I typically hold the card for her because, as a young three year old, she usually uses both hands to open her clothespin.
If you don’t have a clothespin, your child can place a manipulative on top of their answer or mark it with a dry erase marker/crayon. They’re a fantastic art supply that will quickly become a go-to favorite!
You can make the cards self-checking for your child by marking a mark with a Sharpie on the back of each card that corresponds to the position of the correct number.
Free printable Valentine’s count and clip cards download
Alright, let’s get to the free printables!
Like all free preschool printables on The Artisan Life, this game is free for personal and classroom use. You are also welcome to use it with scout troops, homeschool co-ops, etc. Basically, as long as you are personally organizing the activity, it’s fine to use these.
You are not licensed to redistribute the printouts or digital files to others. Just send your friends or coworkers to this post so they can download their own copies!
If you agree to this license, click below:
I hope your little learner has lots of fun with these Valentine themed counting clip cards!
Be sure to grab these additional free printables for Valentine’s Day while you’re here:
Stop scrolling Pinterest for Valentine's Day printables and crafts - check out these Valentine's posts right here on The Artisan Life!
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