Garbage Truck Counting Game
Do your kids love trucks, especially trash trucks? Then, you’ll want to try our garbage truck counting game that’s perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to practice number recognition and counting. I earn commissions from qualifying purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.
Vroom Vroom Garbage Truck by Asia Citro
Vroom Vroom Garbage Truck is my toddler’s current favorite board book. We were sent a review copy. I love the book so much I bought one for my cousin’s new baby. The story is made up of only sound words. Follow a day in the life of a garbage truck and listen to the noises along the way. My kids love counting the garbage cans and the ducks and everything else they can see.
Garbage Truck Counting Game
Vroom Vroom Garbage Truck has inspired lots of pretend play in our house. The kids have been using their trucks to pick up trash (blocks or other toys) and take them to the dump. I decided to take their play a step further and add in a little math practice.
Supplies You’ll Need:
- white card stock
- markers
- scissors
- contact paper or laminating sheets
- blocks
- toy truck(s) like our dump truck, blue truck, and scooper construction truck from Green Toys (they have a recycling truck that would be great, too)
First, I traced the garbage truck from the book. I enlarged the image using my printer’s copy function and printed it onto card stock. (I have an HP Envy and subscribe to Instant Ink. They automatically send me ink before I run out.)
I colored the trucks and laminated them using contact paper. This makes the trucks more durable and less likely for my toddler to rip them during play.
I wrote the numbers 1-10 on card stock.
For the set up, place blocks in a line to represent trash cans along the street.
Set up an area for the dump. We marked off the dump with a stack of blocks. Place a number card in the dump. This is how many blocks your child will need to collect and add to the dump. Since we had two kids playing, we had two dumps set up.
Ask your child to look at a number in the dump. Tell her to collect that many blocks. Have your child count the blocks as she picks them up.
In Vroom Vroom Garbage Truck, the garbage has to stop for a family of ducks crossing the road. We had to add this to our play as well. Lily moved the ducks and continued on to the dump.
When your child reaches the dump, have her say the number again.
Dump out the blocks and count them one more time. Did you bring the right amount?
Then, it’s time to reset the trash can blocks and choose a new number for the dump.
In addition to the dump truck, my kids love using the scooper construction truck.
My toddler especially loves pushing the trash around the dump using the scooper truck (we like to call it an excavator).
More Ways to Play and Learn with Trucks
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