These free printable winter counting cards feature the numbers 1-10 written in English and Spanish as well as numerals. Each card has an iceberg and cute watercolor penguins to count. As an added bonus, there are also heart tiles to cut out so you don’t have to source your own manipulative for counting if you don’t want to!
Because we are a bilingual household, I’m adding more Spanish language resources for preschoolers as my daughter continues to grow and learn. If your child is learning Spanish, please stop by this post for your free printable Spanish alphabet tracing pages.
If your child isn’t learning Spanish, that’s fine. A knowledge of Spanish isn’t required to use 2/3 of the cards. If you want to use the Spanish cards, but aren’t sure how to pronounce the words, Spanish Dict has a fantastic resource for pronouncing numbers.
For more preschool winter fun, grab these freebies while you’re here:
- Winter picture bingo
- Winter I spy printables
- Easy picture winter crossword puzzle
- Winter do a dot printables
- Winter tracing fine motor practice
How to prepare and use winter counting cards
The cards are quick and easy to prepare. Let’s take a look at the materials you’ll need:
Materials needed
- Free printable number matching/counting cards (download link is lower in the post)
- Cardstock or paper
- I recommend this 32 lb paper for printables. It’s heavier than “normal” printer paper and has much better images. See a comparison of several papers and cardstocks in this post about the best paper for printables. The cards shown in this post were printed on the 32 lb paper linked.
- Laminator and pouches
- Optional but helpful. Cards are reusable and easy to clean when you laminate them.
- Scissors and/or paper trimmer.
- A heavy duty paper cutter is best for laminated cards, but I’ve used this paper trimmer for laminated pages, too.
- Small manipulatives and tongs or tweezers, optional
- For an added fine motor challenge, have your child place a manipulative like pompoms using large plastic tweezers or bamboo tongs.
How to prepare winter counting cards
First, download your free printable number matching cards. The download link is lower in the post. You’ll see an image that says “download here.”
Print the pages you need. The pages are arranged in order with three cards for each number (English text, Spanish text, numeral). You don’t have to print all of the pages if your child isn’t ready for numbers all the way to 10. The cards are four to a page and about 4″ x 5″ when cut out.
*Please note that the photos on this page show 1, one, and uno on the same sheet. The download has all English words, then all Spanish words, then all numbers so it’s easier to just print the sets you want.*
Laminate the pages, if you’re using a laminator. Laminating first means you only cut once.
Cut out the cards along the lines. Cut the heart tiles, too, if you want to use them.
Play and enjoy!
How to use counting card mats
These winter counting cards can be used in so many ways since they’re in both Spanish and English. Here are a few ideas:
- One-to-one correspondence
- Matching English and Spanish written numbers
- Matching written numbers to numerals
- To reinforce vocabulary for English language learners or for children learning Spanish
- To improve fine motor skills when used with play dough balls, pompoms, or other small manipulatives
Using cards to improve number sense with one-to-one correspondence is easy. Simply have your child place a manipulative (or heart tile) on each image on the card. When there’s a manipulative on each image, they’ve counted to the number shown on the card.
When I demonstrate counting with my daughter, I always work from the upper left corner and go left to right, just like with reading. She hasn’t mastered this yet, so marking each image is very important or she loses track of what she’s counting.
It sounds so simple, but it’s challenging for little learners.
You can also use the cards to make a cute banner to decorate your child’s learning space. Use clothespins to clip the cards along a line (like baker’s twine) while they’re not in use.
Free winter counting cards download
Like all preschool printables on The Artisan Life, these are for personal and single classroom use (including use with scouts groups, therapy clients, homeschool co-ops, etc.).
You are not licensed to redistribute the digital files or printouts to other teachers/parents for use with their children or students. Instead, please refer your friends and coworkers to this page so they can download their own copies.
I hope your little learner enjoys playing (and learning) with these winter counting mats as much as mine does! Please let me know what theme of counting card (or resource in Spanish) you’d like to see next by learning a comment below.
Winter printables and activities
Need more winter printables and activities to keep your kids busy on a cold day?
Printable Arctic Animal Bingo
These polar animal bingo cards are low-prep fun for a cold winter day!
Free Winter Ten Frame Printables
These free printable winter ten frame cards are a fun, easy way to help your child learn how to count.
Printable Snowflake Coloring Pages
These free printable snowflake coloring pages are fun and helpful as part of a lesson on the weather.
Free Printable Winter Tracing Pages
These free printable winter tracing pages are a no-prep educational activity for preschoolers, pre-k, and kindergarteners.
Free Printable Winter Do a Dot Marker Pages
Toddlers and preschoolers love these free printable winter do a dot marker pages! Use them with duaber style markers, dot stickers, or pompoms.
Free Printable Snowman Templates
These snowman templates are perfect for crafts and snowman themed activities.
Free Printable Winter Bingo
This free printable winter bingo is fun for the whole family. Even young children can play along since reading is not required!
20+ Free Printable Winter Animal Coloring Pages for Kids
These cute winter animals are so much fun for kids to color! Click through for 20+ free printable winter animal coloring sheets for kids.
Winter Word Scramble
This free printable word scramble is a fun brain teaser for older children (and adults, too!)
Winter I Spy Printable
Pick from three levels of difficulty to keep all of your kids busy and learning on a cold winter day.
Free Easy Winter Crossword Printable for Kids
This picture crossword puzzle is fun and easy for kids! Bonus: the answer key is included.
Free Printable Winter Alphabet Matching Cards
These free printable winter alphabet matching cards are a fun way to help your child associate uppercase and lowercase letters.
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