Five Interactive Websites To Teach Counting

Here are five, interactive websites that you can use to teach counting to primary students. It’s the foundational math skill. Without it, math will not make much sense. Some students struggle with counting. They may need additional support with counting 1:1 or counting those tricky teen numbers.

The way students get better at counting is to practice a variety of ways. There are so many ways to teach counting…whether it’s using hands-on activities, counting objects around the room, or using digital games.

Five Interactive Websites to Teach Counting

Here are some free websites to help students practice counting (free as of December 2020) for teaching students how to count. I chose these websites because they allow students to count using 1:1 correspondence, count a set of objects and record how many. And most importantly, they are fun and engaging!

Birthday Candle Counting

Students love talking about their birthdays so why not use that as a way to teach them how to count? What I like about this game is that as the students count the candles on the cake, it says the number. After they are finished counting, they have to pick the balloon that matches the number of candles.

This game is from abcya.com! My students love ABCYA games. They never disappoint!

Five Interactive Websites To Teach Counting to Primary Students

Counting Fuzz Bugs

If you want your students to do more than count, then Fuzz Bugs is another great game. Students sort, count, and compare the number of fuzz bugs. Not only does this game incorporate multiple counting and cardinality objectives, but the fuzz bugs are super adorable!

Count with Counters

This is another great counting game for students that are struggling with 1:1 correspondence and recognizing that the last number said tells you how many. They count the number of counters in the row. If they click on the counter, it will tell them the number and the number pops up. This provides a helpful visual for students that need to connect the quantity to the numeral.

Learning to Count: The Gingerbread Man Game

I love this website, Top Marks UK. There are options to differentiate the type of questions that you give students. They also have a variety of characters to teach your students how to count: octopuses, bears, and ladybugs to name a few. The variety will come in handy for students that get bored easily and need you to switch out the game but still practice the skill.

George’s Busy Day

I love PBS Kids’ math website. First, it incorporates characters from their TV shows and students will love to engage with a game that is based off something that is familiar with them. George’s Busy Day is about identifying the missing number by selecting the apple with the correct number. What I also like about this game is that it includes closed captioning, which will display the directions in written format. This is helpful for students with hearing impairments or other disabilities.

Digital Counting with Ten Frames

One of the most common ways we teach counting is using ten frames. Ten frames are a great teaching tool because it helps students keep track of their count and start to recognize patterns in numbers (i.e., 15 is 10 and 5 ones).

I love digital ten frames! It allows students to hear the number, build the number, and check their work. There are digital ten frames for each season, so students will stay engaged. What I love about these digital ten frames is that you can use them for instruction.

You can use them to teach students 1:1 correspondence, practice counting on from a number that is not one, and recognize patterns in numbers (i.e., when the ten frame is full, we can say 10 and count on).

Here’s a video of it!

These slides have audio and are self-checking, so you don’t have to worry about the student completing the slides and not knowing whether their answer is correct.