Sleigh Race: Free Printable Christmas Counting Board Game 1-10 for Preschool

How to use this

• What it builds

  A Christmas game that is secretly a number line. The track is one straight row of squares from Start to ten, with a numeral on every square, and each spin slides the sleigh one or two squares forward. The child says the numbers out loud while the sleigh moves, counting on from where it stands rather than from one, and that is what turns a game into practice: they learn that a bigger number means further along the track. A straight track with the numbers showing is the version that worked in Siegler and Ramani's studies with four and five year olds, and the same game played with colours instead of numbers did not help, so the numerals matter more than the pictures. The sleighs and presents just make the festive season a good reason to play.

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• Ready when

  A child who can count aloud to ten and wait for a turn. Writing numbers is not needed. If counting past five is still new, spin only for a 1 and start the sleighs on square 3, or play the Turkey Race version earlier in the term first.

• How to run it

  Print one copy. A grown-up cuts out the two sleighs and makes the spinner with a pencil and a paper clip (or flips a coin: heads is 1, tails is 2). Put both sleighs on Start and take turns: spin, slide that many squares, and say each number you pass out loud. On 3 with a spin of 2, say 4, 5. If a number is skipped, say it together and let the child repeat it. The first sleigh to reach 10 delivers the presents and wins. Several short games beat one long one, and ten to fifteen minutes is enough. Circle a face in the corner afterwards to keep track of how it went. Both UK (A4) and US (Letter) paper sizes print from the same download.

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