The 10 Best Counting Bears Activities for Preschoolers

Looking for Counting Bears activities? You’ll find 10 activities here to try with your preschooler today!

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We love using the rainbow Counting Bears in our home. My children enjoy scooping them, dispersing them into different containers, using them during imaginative play with their other toys, and occasionally breaking them free from an ice cube. 

But they are also great for learning! With a little creative thinking, they can teach a lot too!

Personally, I love them because they can be a no-prep activity! It is just as easy and enticing to offer these Counting Bears to my children as it is to offer them a screen.

Need help presenting activities in a way that gets your kids excited as well as breaking screen time habits? Read How to Reduce Screen Time for Preschoolers.

In this post, you’ll find 10 simple no-prep and low-prep activities for you to try with your children!

What are Counting Bears?

Counting Bears are educational, fun, toy bears. They are colorful, plastic manipulatives that can be used for learning activities and pretend play! 

What Age Are Counting Bears For?

The recommended age for Counting Bears is 3 and up. They are small and may be a choking hazard for little toddlers. So, use your discretion and supervision with littles under 3. 

My children played with these when they were 2 with my supervision. They were still putting toys in their mouth at this age.  

Why Use Counting Bears?

Counting Bears are versatile! They can be used in a variety of ways. The possibilities are really endless! 

Let me tell you, the small investment in these was well worth it! They can be great for independent play, learning activities, and on-the-go fun!

My twins have loved these bears for well over a year now at ages 3 and 4. They often came up with new, creative ways to use them all on their own!

With a little help from an adult, they can also teach many different early learning concepts!

What Do Counting Bears Teach? 

They can teach SO many things! 

The most obvious is counting, but some others include:

• early math concepts
• number recognition
• fine motor skills
• matching
• pattern recognition
• sorting

Why Is Counting So Important for Preschoolers?

Counting helps your child learn the labels for numbers and teaches them how numbers are sequenced together. 

Also, they will learn that counting is incorporated in almost everything we do! 

Is it lunch time? Count the chicken nuggets. Bath time? Count how many toys they have in the bath with them!

Soon, they will be a counting machine!

Counting Bears Activities – Pretend Play

Here are some creative Counting Bears activities that we’ve done in our house. 

Play Food 

For this activity, grab your child’s food related toys. Or, grab some items from your cupboards! No need to go out and buy more. Just use what you have!

Then have your little chef serve up some delicious food!

Here are some ideas to get started:

• Add the bears to a big mixing bowl with a scooper. Your child can scoop them out into different bowls and cups. 
• Use a play tea set, and pretend the bears are sugar, scooping them into each other’s tea cups. 
• Pour them into a toy smoothie blender. Blend up those bears (not morbid at all), and pour them into your cups to drink. Yum!

Play House 

For this activity, grab their Counting Bears, dollhouse, and toy furniture.

Let your child explore, creating a scene with these items. 

Note: If you don’t have a dollhouse or any toy furniture, encourage your child to make a simple one out of magnetic tiles, blocks, or even some cardboard!

Play Dough

Give your child some play dough and the Counting Bears, and see what they come up with. 

If they need some starter ideas, they could hide the bears inside play dough balls or make bear stamps in the play dough. 

Extension: Give them their play kitchen dishes and utensils for more creative play.

Ice Play 

For this activity, you’ll need:

• Ice cube tray
• Container
• Towel
• Warm water
• Salt
• Squirt Bottle

Freeze those Counting Bears in your ice cubes overnight. Then dump the cubes in a big storage container. 

The goal is to free the bears trapped in ice!

Make sure to lay down a towel. (I forgot this step, and the rug was a tad soaked after.)

Give your child some warm water mixed with salt. I gave my kids two different squirt bottles that I had laying around the house.

Extension: Provide tools such as a toy hammer (or small real hammer), tongs, and measuring cups for more of a variety.

Note: If you’re hoping for this to be an independent activity, like I was, give them access to as much warm salt water as you’re comfortable with. I had to refill my kids’ squirt bottles multiple times. 

Water Play

For this Counting Bears activity, you’ll need:

• 2 containers any size
• Dish soap
• Towel
• Sponge

Add some dish soap to one container and then fill it with water. Swirl it around to create more bubbles.

To the next container, add fresh water. Then lay out your towel.

Now, you have a washing station, a rinsing station, and a drying station.

Tell your children, “The bears are dirty! They’re stinky! They need a bath. Can you help them?”

Watch as your child’s eyes light up for this activity.

Extension: If you’re playing outside, your kids may be little dirty too. Consider letting them wash themselves or each other!

Double Extension: Add cups, straws, pitchers, and bowls to serve up these bears as a delicious drink, soup or cereal!

Counting Bears Activities – Learning

These are some of our favorite learning activities we’ve done in our home with Counting Bears. 

Story Math 

Make up a story using the bears. 

“Once upon a time there were 2 little bears.” Place 2 bears in front of your child. “They were playing at the park when 2 other bears asked to join them.” Put 2 more bears down.

Ask your child, “How many bears are playing together now?”

Continue the story. Get as creative as you’d like. Add more bears, and then stop and ask your child, “How many bears are playing together now?”

When the amount of bears becomes too high, start over with a different story.

Tip: Help your child point and touch each bear as he’s counting them. 

Extension: Encourage your child to come up with their own story. 

Ten-Frame Math

In this activity, your child will use the bears to count from 1-10. 

Make a ten-frame out of colorful masking tape or painter’s tape on the floor. Your child will use this frame as a guide for counting. 

If you’re unfamiliar with a ten-frame, the top row is filled from left to right, and then the bottom row is filled from left to right. Show your child how to fill it in this way. 

Before you begin, count out 10 bears with your child to use for this activity. Talk about the colors that were selected. 

Next, call out a number (for example, 4). Have your child place 4 bears in the ten-frame. Have them touch and count the bears to 4. 

Ask, “How can you use this frame to show me 5?” 

Then repeat with all other numbers 1-10. 

Note: Ten-frames help children learn the value of numbers. They will be a critical part of your child’s conceptual understanding of addition and subtraction, and their future ability to rapidly recall math facts. These frames are so much more than counting!

Puddle Counting

Draw some puddles on a white piece of paper. Color each puddle a different color, and write a number in each. 

The idea is that the bears want to splash in the puddles!

Have your child match the bears by color to each puddle, and then place the correct amount in each.

Extension: Make this activity trickier by having your child use a spoon or tongs when transferring each bear. 

Cup Counting

This activity is a slight variation of the previous one. 

You’ll need 5-6 colored cups/bowls, and some different colored tape, sticky notes, or paper. 

Your child will be looking at numbers on cups and adding the correct amount of the matching color bears to that cup.

If you don’t have different colored cups, don’t worry. You can still do this activity just without the matching element. 

Next, attach 2 different colors of tape or paper to each cup. For example, each cup could get a little piece of blue tape and yellow tape. Put blue in the front and yellow in the back. Just so your child can’t see both at the same time. 

Then write a number from 1-10 on each piece of tape. 

Then have your child pick which color they want to do first. If they choose blue, have the blue tape facing your child as he puts the correct amount of bears in that cup. 

Make it fun! Pretend you’re making smoothies! Pretend to drink it when he’s done. Does it taste good? Are some of them sour or sweet?

Then say, “Let’s do it again! I wonder what the other colored tape tastes like. Let’s try the yellow tape smoothies!”

Extension: Make this activity trickier by having your child use a spoon or tongs when transferring each bear. 

Pattern Recognition

This activity only requires the Counting Bears.

If your child is new to patterns, start really simple. You could even start with all the same color. 

Grab a bear and say the color as you place it down in front of your child. 

“Red, red, red, red, red… What comes next?”

Then switch to a different color. 

“Blue, blue, blue, blue, blue… What comes next?”

Do this for all the colors if your child is enjoying it. Give them the easy wins! It’ll build their confidence!

Then make it a little more difficult by using two colors. 

“Red, blue, red, blue, red… Now, what comes next?”

Use different color combinations. 

Extension: Up the challenge and try  “red, red, blue”. Then introduce three colors alternating. 

Have Fun With It!

These Counting Bears have been a hit in my home for a few years now, as my kids have been 3 and 4 years old. The possibilities on how to use them are endless with a little creative thinking!

Just have fun with it, mama! I hope you found some inspiring ideas to try with your littles!

Tell me, how does your family like to use these Counting Bears? 

Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

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