How to Use Printable Number Cards for Valentine's Day Math

Read how to use free printable number cards for Valentine’s Day math in preschool and kindergarten.

While I’m not a fan of worksheets for young kids, I do like incorporating printables alongside hands-on activities.

One of the things I like about preschool printables is that they can be used in multiple ways. I put together a set of free printable number cards for Valentine’s Day that you can grab at the end of this post. Because there’s more than one way to use the number cards, a variety of early math concepts can be explored.

$Printable number cards to use in the preschool math center$

How to Prepare the Valentine’s Day Printable Number Cards

Print out the counting hearts activity (free printable found at the bottom of the post) on card stock, although regular printer paper works just fine, too.

Cut the number cards apart. I’d suggest laminating the cards so they’re more durable. This way, you can pack them up to use again next year (and the year after that).

The larger counting mat can also be laminated, or you can place it inside a plastic sheet protector during the activity.

Grab some items to use as math manipulatives. We used conversation hearts, but pompoms, acrylic hearts, or buttons would work just as well. Place the manipulatives you’ve chosen into a bowl next to the cards and the counting mat. Then it’s time to get started.

Related: Free Printable Valentine Games

Valentine’s Day Math Activities with Printable Number Cards

As I mentioned above, the heart number cards can be used in a variety of ways. I’ll share how we’ve used them for math, as well as a few other suggestions.

I’m sure you’ll think of even more ways to incorporate them into your preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

Explore one-to-one correspondence with manipulatives

Number cards are a great way to work on one-to-one correspondence with children. Place the counting mat down, with the printable number cards in a pile next to it. Add your manipulatives (in our case, candy hearts) to a bowl nearby.

Have the child identify the number on the top card. Then have her count out the appropriate number of candy hearts and place them on the counting mat.

Depending on the needs of the children, you can put out all of the number cards or just pick a few at a time to work on.

$Printable number cards and candy hearts for Valentine's Day math$

Practice number writing with markers

If you laminated the number cards, the kids can write directly on top of them with dry erase markers. Wet erase markers would work as well, but dry erase are easier to remove from the cards.

Work on numerical order

Have the kids put the numbers in order from smallest to largest, or vice versa. Encourage them to go back, point, and say the numbers in order to self-check.

Children could also use the cards to work on skip counting, if they’re at that stage.

Pair with a sensory writing tray

Use the cards with a sensory writing tray so kids can practice writing numbers in a multi-sensory way.

We had some old sprinkles set aside, so that’s what went into our writing tray. You could also use colored sand, plain sand, simple Epsom salt, or another sensory material kids can easily write in.

Delve into addition and subtraction

If your children are ready, you can also use this printable set to work on addition and subtraction concepts. Print multiple sets of the heart counting cards if needed, of course.

For addition, have the child pick two cards from the pile. He can use different color manipulatives for each number, and place them all on the counting mat. Then have him determine the total number of hearts and locate the new number.

For subtraction, the kids can again pick two number cards. Use the larger number as a starting place, and have the kids place that many math manipulatives on the counting mat. Then they can use the smaller number to determine how many pieces to remove.

Grab Your Printable Number Cards

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If you don’t see the image above, click here for the cards.

PLEASE NOTE that many school district computers have firewalls and pop-up blockers that will inhibit your access to this free printable. You might see the pop-up stall out and say “submitting” for an extended period of time, or you might not see the box that’s supposed to pop up. If you’re on a school computer and run into these issues, this might be the case for your district. Using a non-school computer should solve that problem.

Preschool Lesson Plans for Valentine’s Day

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes book suggestions, printable plans, over 30 learning activities (both whole group and centers) related to the theme, and corresponding printables.