40+ Preschool Math Activities Inspired by a Book

We love book-inspired activities here at Inspiration Laboratories. We also love math. Math games are usually quick and easy to set up making them the perfect activity to do after reading a story. Check out our collection of preschool math activities inspired by book from bloggers around the web. Affiliate links are used in this post. Clicking on a book’s image will take you to Amazon.

Preschool Math Activities Inspired by a Book

Giles Andreae

Math Fun in the Pool from Toddler Approved – Read Commotion in the Ocean and practice counting and number skills in the pool.

Barnyard Math Games – Read Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! Barnyard Hullabaloo and practice counting, number recognition, addition, subtraction and more.

Giraffe Spots Number Game from Toddler Approved – Read Giraffes Can’t Dance and work on number matching skills.

Donald Crews

Freight Train Counting Games – Grab your train set and have fun practicing skip counting, one to one correspondence, sequencing, and more.

Shape Train Matching Activity from Toddler Approved – Download the printouts to help you build your paper train.

Ten Black Dots Number Matching – Download the printable for this simple matching game.

Ten Black Dots: Counting and Grouping Circles from Pre-K Pages

Ten Black Dots Pattern Play and Number Cards from Mama Miss – Use glass gems in to make patterns and numbers in this gorgeous activity.

Paint Chip Number Recognition from Reading Confetti

Julia Donaldson

Room on the Broom – Learning Ordinal Numbers from Rainy Day Mum

Witch Shape Craft Inspired by Room on the Broom from Toddler Approved

Counting Ingredients in the Cauldron – Room on the Broom from 3 Dinosaurs

Gruffalo Themed Shape Animals from The Educators’ Spin On It

Spray Bottle Number Hunt with the Gruffalo from Toddler Approved – Set up a scavenger hunt to look for the Gruffalo friends while practicing counting and writing numbers.

Mem Fox

Counting Goats Math Game – Read Let’s Count Goats – a super silly count-to-ten book – and have fun counting goats.

Ladybug Math Game from Fantastic Fun and Learning – Combine scooping, pouring, sensory play, and math in this fun game after reading Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug!

Leo Lionni

Fishy Math Practice with Swimmy – Learn about schooling and practice counting and sorting fish. Download the free printables to help you out.

Measuring Practice with Inch by Inch – Head outside with your ruler and practice measuring things.

Search for things that are one inch long using inchworm rulers from Royal Baloo. Download the free printable and check out how they played.

Make play dough inchworms and practicing measuring with a ruler from Teach Preschool.

Read Colors, Letters, Numbers and play Splat! A Disappearing Number Game for Kids from Toddler Approved

Eric Litwin

Pete the Cat Button Activities – practice sorting counting, and subtraction with buttons. Download the free printable.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons Math from Crayon Freckles – Practice counting, number recognition, and making patterns with Pete the Cat.

Button Counting, Graphing, and Sorting from Mama Miss

Subtraction Math Game with Pete the Cat from Buggy and Buddy – Use felt, buttons, and a wooden die to make an awesome game to practice counting and subtraction.

Dr. Seuss

One Fish Two Fish Size Sorting is a fun way to practice measuring and sorting by size.

Number Pocket Game for Toddlers and Preschoolers from Toddler Approved – Read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and have fun with some number practice.

Measuring with the Foot Book – Measure your feet with a ruler and then measure other things with your feet.

The Lorax Number Match Up from Playdough to Plato – a counting, number recognition and fine motor activity in one.

Truffula Tree Number Matching from 3 Dinosaurs – Build Truffula Trees while matching numbers.

Truffula Tree Math Games Inspired by the Lorax – Working on number recognition and addition.

Counting with Yertle the Turtle – How high can you stack the turtles?

20 More Math Activities Inspired by Dr. Seuss

Ellen Stoll Walsh

Shape Collages Inspired by Mouse Shapes – Create 2D shape collages and 3D block scenes after reading the book.

Triangle Tessalation Puzzle from Mama Miss – Read Mouse Shapes and put together your own puzzles.

Mouse Count Number Lines and Ordering from Rainy Day Mum – Work on number recognition and placing numbers in order with this cute activity.

Mouse Count Ping Pong Ball Game from Lalymom – Practice counting with this fun relay game.

Mouse Count Activities with Lids from The Educators’ Spin On It – Retell the story using some adorable props. Practice counting and number recognition.

Mouse Counting Activity with Stamps – Practice counting and number recognition after making your own mouse stamps.

Mo Willems

The Duckling Gets a Cookie Math Games – Felt cookies, pom pom toppings, stickers, and shapes make for some fun counting and shape practice.

Counting Chocolate Chips with The Duckling Gets a Cookie from 3 Dinosaurs

The Pigeon Counts! Game from PreKinders – This simple math game will go along with any of the Pigeon books.

Cardboard Box Bus Craft and Number Game from Toddler Approved – Make a bus for the Pigeon and let him drive around the room to practice counting and moving.

Do you have any preschool math activities to go along with a book? Leave a link in the comments. I’d love to add it to my Inspired by a Book Pinterest board.

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This post was originally published on August 5, 2015.