12 fun and educational maths games, aligned to the early learning goals, for reception learners
Author
Mhairi
Published
March 2025
Key takeaways
Table of contents
The reception year is the first year of primary school, and learners will work towards developing skills set out in the EYFS curriculum.
With learners only being 4-5 years old, having fun while learning is a no-brainer to keep them interested and engaged. That’s why in reception maths games are a must!
We’ve hand-picked 12 fun and educational maths games for reception learners that match the early learning goals (ELGs) students are assessed on at the end of the year.
These games are fun for teachers to use in the classroom, or for parents to play at home with their little ones. Let’s take a look and pick a few to try out with your little learners!
This is a great interactive game to get kids counting! Print out a picture of your chosen animal, then some of their food (e.g. a monkey and some bananas), and cut them all out.
You can put numbers on the pieces of food for number recognition or leave them blank and have your kiddos count each bit of food as they feed the hungry animal!
Here’s a great example that uses ocean animals!
Write the numbers from 0 to 20 on some small plastic cups or flower pots and challenge your kiddos to put them in order. Provide counters or pom poms too and have your kiddos count the correct number into each pot.
This one doubles as a great counting activity and a beautiful wall display! Start by cutting out some yellow circles (the middle of the flower), coloured petals, and a green stalk.
Write different numbers in the yellow circles and have your little learners count out the right number of petals for each flower! They can have fun with colours or layouts for their petals, and then use a glue stick to secure their work.
Take a look at this example for some inspiration!
This activity makes for a fantastic problem-solving game for your little learners. Using a large sheet of paper or an activity tray, write out the numbers 0 to 10, or 0 to 20, leaving a few gaps.
It’s then up to your little number detectives to fill in the gaps using objects from around your classroom! They could use numicon pieces, counters, laminated number cards – whatever they can find!
Roll and colour activities are perfect for reception-aged learners practising their subitising skills! You can turn this into a game by having kiddos race to see who can roll and colour all their numbers first!
Turn snack time into a game by involving learners in sharing the food! This is a fantastic way to introduce language like “more”, “less”, “same”, “odd” and “even”.
Can your snack helpers ensure everyone gets the same quantities of their yummy snack foods?
In this game, it’s your kiddos’ job to ensure the patterns you give them are correct and not missing anything! Let little ones continue patterns, fill in missing shapes, or even have them inspect patterns made by their friends!
You can use printed shapes stuck onto paper, 2D shape tiles, or even get arty with ink or paint stampers!
If fun, low-prep reception maths games are your thing, this one’s for you! Give your little learners as many number cards as you like, then let them make up their own rules for sorting them.
Take time to discuss the different rules they come up with and soon enough they’ll notice and describe patterns in how numbers increase or decrease!
Get your whole class involved in learning about odd and even numbers with a fun, hands-on activity! Using hula hoops and numbered objects or toys (this example uses little toy dogs), you and your learners can decide if numbers are “Odd Todds” or “Even Stevens”!
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Explore the number 10 in a variety of different ways using counting frames and more!
Discover everyday language used to talk about time.
Learn all about recognising, creating and describing patterns.
Visualising number bonds is a fantastic way to teach reception-aged learners about number composition. There are plenty of printable resources for number bond games, including these great jigsaw or domino games!
I love using old LEGO or Duplo for this activity too! Just glue together different amounts of blocks and let your kiddos figure out which combinations add up to 10.
Challenge your kiddos to follow a list of maths instructions and let them build a skyscraper! Start them off with a set number of blocks in their tower, then with each instruction have your learners add or subtract a different number of blocks.
This is a fun, hands-on way for them to get some addition and subtraction practice!
Who doesn’t love a little sensory play? Using some Play-Doh (or make your own!) and different coloured pipe cleaners, your little learners explore multiple ways to make the number eight by adding legs to their spiders.
Unlock unlimited maths questions
Put your skills to the test with fun exercises + maths games that are proven to boost ability!
Don’t forget our incredible DoodleLearning maths app is packed with fun maths games for reception learners! Everything is aligned with the EYFS maths curriculum, so you can be sure your kiddos are practising the skills that will help them in school.
Each learner will get a personalised programme of fun games and interactive activities that teach them the concepts they need to know. Adults can even keep an eye on their progress with a separate dashboard!
Parents, sign up for a DoodleMaths subscription and see your child become a maths wizard!
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