🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop
- 🤝 Social Bonds — Shared outdoor adventures create lasting memories and strengthen relationships — the social bonds formed through challenging experiences together are among the most resilient and meaningful human connections.
- 📸 Documentation & Memory-Making — Documenting adventures through photographs, collections, and journals teaches children to value their experiences, practice observation, and create personal records that become treasured family artifacts.
- 🌍 Place-Based Knowledge — Knowing and caring about local natural places — a favorite park, a nearby creek, a well-loved hiking trail — builds place attachment and community identity that roots children in a sense of belonging.
- 🔍 Observational Skills — Slowing down to notice — a bird's behavior, a spider's web, a pattern in bark — builds the fine-grained observational attention that scientific and analytical thinking depend on.
How did your preschooler react to the New Year count down? Even though most preschool children were probably sleeping when the New Year began, many knew the countdown chant: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...Happy New Year! The skill of counting backwards is introduced to school-aged children, but preschoolers enjoy counting adventures all their own.
Rote Counting 
Rote counting is the first type of preschool counting adventure. Rote counting means counting by saying the numbers by memory (not counting objects). The same fantastic memory that allows preschoolers to memorize the words of a familiar book enables them to recite numbers in order. Rote counting is a wonderful preschool school accomplishment that can be used as an impromptu activity when waiting for an appointment, riding in the car, or standing in a line. The adventure of rote counting comes when preschoolers enjoy the repetition of reciting the words. Preschoolers are busy showing the world that they are “big”, and reciting numbers from one to ten for Grandma is one way to get that recognition.
One-to-one Correspondence
One-to-one correspondence is the type of counting a preschooler uses to see how many she has of something. When she counts the number of cookies on a plate, she is saying one number for each cookie. Preschoolers can help with household jobs like setting the table, another example of independence (being “big enough” to do things). How many people are in our family? How many napkins do we need?
Number Recognition in Print
Number recognition in print is another major accomplishment of the preschooler. Many preschool television programs and picture books emphasize numbers in print. While this is an important pre-academic skill to the preschooler, each discovery of a number in his world is amazing. The numbers of a gas price, highway number markers, the number candle on a birthday cake, and the aisle numbers at the grocery store are a few places that the number recognition adventure continues for the preschooler.
Math Concept Words
Other number concepts are also part of the preschool math adventure. Preschoolers describe a large amount of something as being many or having
lots and lots. They can tell who has more and how old they are. Preschoolers can also describe an amount as some, but not all. For example, we picked up some, but not all of the toys.
Counting Adventure Books for Cold Winter Days
1 to 10 and Back Again: A Getty Museum Counting Book by J Paul Getty Museum
Baby Einstein: See and Spy Counting by Julia Aigner-Clark
Counting Kisses: A Kiss and Read Book by Karen Katz
Hershey Kisses: Counting Board Book by Barbara Barbierbi McGrath
Gathering: A Northwoods Counting Book by Betsy Bowen
My Valentine Counting Book by Duncan Maxfield
Roll Over!: A Counting Song, illustrated by Merle Peek
Splash!: A Penguin Counting Book by Jonathan Chester
A Woodland Counting Book by Claudia McGehee
Hi! I am
Lynn Moore, the writer for Preschool Adventures at PreschoolRock.com. I have taught preschool, elementary school, and worked as a developmental therapist for children with special needs. My children (a daughter and a son) are grown, but my experiences as a mom have definitely influenced my writing for preschoolers. Remember to look for the adventure in every day!
Contact me with your preschool adventure ideas.
Helpful Tips for Parents - Allow children to experience manageable discomfort outdoors: getting muddy, feeling tired, being briefly lost, and recovering from a fall. These experiences build resilience that cannot be taught indoors. - Encourage children to stop and be still in natural settings. The most interesting wildlife reveals itself to the patient observer, not the one crashing through bushes. - Share your own sense of wonder about natural places. A parent who says "Isn't that incredible?" in front of a tide pool or a mountain view gives children permission to feel awe. - Follow the child's pace. Outdoor adventures where adults set the pace and children must keep up are miserable. Adventures where the child sets the pace are memorable. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do I manage safety while still allowing adventure? The goal is managed risk, not eliminated risk. Children who are never allowed to experience manageable physical risk — climbing, scrambling, jumping, exploring slightly out of sight — fail to develop the risk-assessment and physical confidence skills that keep them safe in the long run. Assess actual risk versus perceived risk: a 4-year-old climbing a 3-foot boulder is perceive as risky but is typically manageable; a 4-year-old near moving traffic is actually risky. Manage the genuinely high risks while allowing the growth-promoting managed risks. Related reading: See also our nature sorting activities and our nature scavenger hunt guide for more ideas on this topic.
