As a former preschool teacher, I know how important it is to incorporate early math skills into my curriculum. That’s why I developed a fun and engaging game called “Roll and Color a Pig” for my students.
This free preschool math game is available for download and is designed to make learning math fun and interactive for young children. This game goes great with any 3 little pigs, 3 Ninja pigs or farm preschool curriculum.
In this blog post, I’ll explain how to play the game and its benefits, as well as discuss the importance of early math skills for preschoolers. So, get ready to oink and roll with “Roll and Color a Pig”!
Materials Needed to Play the Roll and Color a Pig Game
To play “Roll and Color a Pig,” you’ll need the following materials, all of which require no preparation:
- Free printable “Roll and Color a Pig” game page per student
- One die (I recommend a big foam die that is shown in the photo as it is easier for young children to handle and it doesn’t get lost easily)
- Crayons
How to play Roll and Color a Pig:
Roll and Color a Pig is an easy and fun preschool math game that requires no preparation. To play the game, follow these simple steps:
- Give each student a free printable “Roll and Color a Pig” game page.
- Provide each student with a die and crayons.
- Instruct the students to roll the die and color the corresponding pig part with the matching color.
- If the students roll a number that they have already colored, they can either roll again or pass their turn.
- The goal is to color the entire pig, students “win”, when the pig is completely colored.
Educational Benefits of playing Roll and Color a Pig
Playing “Roll and Color a Pig” not only provides a fun and interactive experience for preschoolers, but it also offers a range of educational benefits.
One such benefit is that students can build their visual discrimination skills while playing the game. Visual discrimination involves paying attention to very small details to see differences in an object or picture. By using their visual discrimination skills to identify and color different pig parts, children can improve their ability to distinguish between similar shapes and colors, which will hones visual skills for to recognizing letters and numbers.
In addition to developing visual discrimination skills, “Roll and Color a Pig” can also help preschoolers improve their subitizing and working memory skills. Subitizing refers to the ability to recognize the number of objects in a group without having to count them individually.
This skill is essential for developing a strong foundation in math and is practiced throughout the game as students roll the die and identify the corresponding number of pig parts to color. Working memory, on the other hand, involves the ability to hold and manipulate information in the mind for a short period of time. By remembering the number on the die and using it to color the correct pig parts, children can enhance their working memory skills, which will benefit them in many areas of their academic and personal lives.
Working memory skills are strengthened while playing this game. Working memory is used because the game requires three steps:
- Children have to remember the amount of dots on the die.
- The next step is finding the matching amount on the paper.
- Coloring the amount of dots on the picture.