Transportation Counting Mats with Addition and Subtraction

What do you do when you want to get your young kids excited about math?  You find a theme that resonates with them and find a way to incorporate math into that theme!  Last week we did dinosaurs, which was wildly popular at my house.  Transportation themes come in a close second.  And I just knew I needed some transportation counting mats to round out the set!

Don’t miss any of the printables from this 31 Day Series!  There are plenty more to come too!

How to Set Up the Transportation Counting Mats

Cardstock or lamination is necessary for the pieces that you move (the cars) but the mats themselves don’t really need extra care.  Unless, of course, you want them to stay in decent shape for a period of time.  In which case, laminate or print on cardstock (or both, for the best protection).

We use both gems and the little pieces for counting mats.  So collect whatever materials you need!  Gems aren’t necessary and something of a similar size will work well too!

How to Use the Transportation Counting Mats

For the preschool age – I would just use them to practice counting 1:1 and reading numbers.  Add the trucks/cars and count up until you reach the right number.  Nice and simple!

For Logi-Bear (my kinder) we use them for basic addition.  On the number 7 card we might say “I have 4 cars and 3 trucks on the road.  How many vehicles are there in total?”  It’s also good for discovering that 4+3=7 and so does 5+2, 6+1. 3+4, etc.  For awhile Royal thought that only two numbers could add up to another number and that other combinations of numbers could not.

These can be great for word problem subtraction problems as well.  “There were 10 cars and trucks on the road.  Five of the cars or trucks stop at the store.  How many are left?

Go Here to Download the Transportation Themed Counting Mats

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