Worked example 1
How many ducks? 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆
- Point to the first duck and say ‘one’.
- Move along, one duck for each word: two, three, four, five, six.
- The last number was six.
Answer: 6 ducks
Early Years · First steps
Counting to 10: activities and worksheet
Counting is more than saying numbers in order. Children need to touch or point to one object per number word, and understand that the last number said tells you how many there are.
- 1Learn it
- 2See it worked
- 3Try it online
- 4Print it
- 5Check your answer
Before you start
Who it's for and what to know first
Saying some number words in order. Recognising written numerals is helpful but not required.
Learn it
How it works
- One-to-one: touch each object once as you say one number. Moving each object to a ‘counted’ pile makes this easier.
- Cardinality: the last number you say is the total. Ask ‘so how many are there?’ after counting.
- Order does not matter: counting cars left to right or right to left gives the same total.
- Link numbers to fingers and dice patterns so children begin to recognise small amounts without counting.
Try it online · print it · check it
Practice questions
Tips
Common mistakes
- Skipping or double-counting objects — encourage touching or moving each one.
- Reciting past the last object. Slow down so words and touches match.
- Writing numbers backwards (like Ƨ for 2). This is common until about age 6.
Last reviewed: 25 September 2026