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Learning · The activity desk

Count and color sports balls

Color basketballs and a soccer ball, then count and compare them.

Let's play →

A little plan for play

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What you need

The sports balls page or paper and a crayon

Age: 3–5 years; choose for the individual child.

Stay with the child throughout. Check the space and supplies, including anything within reach of younger siblings. Skip any activity that is unsuitable. Stop if a child puts non-food material in their mouth or becomes distressed. Use intact books, full sheets of paper, a large child-appropriate crayon and a clean, dry towel. Follow product labels; remove torn paper and keep broken crayons and caps away from children. Adult handles and stores supplies.

Set up: Print the page, or draw three big circles and add curved lines to two and a five-sided shape to one.

Adult's role: Help spot the ball patterns, count together and invite the child to choose colors.

Let's make it happen

  1. Find the two basketballs with curved lines and count them.
  2. Find the soccer ball with a five-sided shape and count it.
  3. Color all three balls and draw a place where someone could play.

Make it simpler: Point to one ball and color it together.

Clean up: Put the crayons away and keep or recycle the page.

Use child-appropriate crayons and follow the child's interest in counting or drawing.

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