Count the Ladybug's Spots

Five ladybugs sit down the left side of the page, each with a different number of big black spots: four, one, nine, two and eight. Down the right side, the numbers 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 wait in circles in a mixed-up order. Your child counts the spots on each ladybug and draws a line from the dot beside it to the matching number.

The spots are spread across both wings, not lined up in a row, so your child has to keep track of which ones have already been counted. That is a real step up from counting objects in a line, and it builds one-to-one correspondence: one number word for each spot, no skips and no repeats. Matching the total to a printed numeral then connects the idea of how many to the symbol that stands for it.

Show your child how to count one wing first and then carry on across the other. Splitting the job this way makes the eight and nine ladybugs much easier to count without losing track.