A preschool math skills checklist is useful for one thing: choosing what to play next. It is not a test, and a three-year-old who has ticked four boxes is not behind a four-year-old who has ticked sixteen. This page gives the checklist, organised the way preschool teachers organise math, with what each skill looks like in a kitchen or a car, and a printable copy.
Print it: Preschool math skills checklist, ages 3 to 5 (PDF). Two pages: the 24 skills with three columns to tick, and one activity for each area.
Where the list comes from
US preschools and pre-K programs work toward a common set of early math goals. The clearest public version is the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, which sets out what children should be able to do by 60 months, the end of preschool, in four domains: counting and cardinality, operations and algebraic thinking, measurement, and geometry and spatial sense. State pre-K standards follow the same pattern. The checklist below puts those goals in parent language and splits them into five areas.
The checklist: 24 skills in five areas
The age in the last column is when most children show the skill reliably. Children reach them in different orders, and a year either way is ordinary.
1. Counting
| # | Skill | What it looks like at home | Typical age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Says the numbers to 10 in order | Counts the stairs aloud | 3 to 4 |
| 2 | Says the numbers to 20 in order | Counts during hide and seek | 4 to 5 |
| 3 | Counts 5 objects, one touch for each | Touches each cracker once as they count | 3 to 4 |
| 4 | Counts 10 objects accurately | Counts the forks for the table | 4 to 5 |
| 5 | Knows the last number counted is how many | Asked "so how many?", answers "five" without recounting | 4 |
| 6 | Counts out a set you ask for | "Bring me four spoons", and brings four | 4 to 5 |
2. Number sense
| # | Skill | What it looks like at home | Typical age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Sees 1, 2 or 3 without counting | Says "two!" at a glance | 3 to 4 |
| 8 | Sees up to 5 without counting | Reads the dots on a die | 4 to 5 |
| 9 | Recognises the numerals 1 to 5 | Points out the 4 on a door | 4 |
| 10 | Recognises the numerals 0 to 10 | Reads the numbers in an elevator | 4 to 5 |
| 11 | Matches a numeral to a group | Puts three blocks next to the 3 | 4 to 5 |
| 12 | Says which group has more, fewer, or the same | "You have more grapes than me" | 3 to 4 |
| 13 | Adds one or two with objects | "If I give you one more, how many?" | 4 to 5 |
| 14 | Takes away with objects, up to 5 | "You ate two. How many are left?" | 4 to 5 |
3. Shapes and space
| # | Skill | What it looks like at home | Typical age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Names circle, square and triangle | Finds them on a walk | 3 to 4 |
| 16 | Names rectangle; describes shapes by sides and corners | "It has three corners" | 4 to 5 |
| 17 | Uses position words | In, on, under, next to, behind, between | 3 to 4 |
| 18 | Builds and completes puzzles | A 12-piece jigsaw; a block tower copied from yours | 4 |
4. Measuring and comparing
| # | Skill | What it looks like at home | Typical age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Compares two things directly | Longer, shorter, heavier, lighter, holds more | 3 to 4 |
| 20 | Puts three or more things in order | Lines up spoons from shortest to longest | 4 to 5 |
| 21 | Measures with a repeated object | "The table is seven blocks long" | 4 to 5 |
5. Sorting and patterns
| # | Skill | What it looks like at home | Typical age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Sorts by one feature | All the red ones; all the big ones; socks into pairs | 3 to 4 |
| 23 | Copies and continues a simple pattern | Red, blue, red, blue, what comes next? | 4 |
| 24 | Makes a pattern of their own, or fills a gap | Clap, clap, stamp; finds the missing bead | 4 to 5 |
How to use it
Watch for two weeks; do not sit the child down. Put the page on the fridge. When you see a skill happen at dinner, in the bath or at the shop, tick it. Skills seen in play are real; skills produced on demand for a parent holding a clipboard often are not.
Three columns, not two. Not yet, sometimes, yes. "Sometimes" is the useful column: it marks the skills that are arriving, and those are the ones a game will help.
Pick two or three, not ten. Choose the "sometimes" skills in the first two areas before anything else, and play one game for each for a month. Then look at the list again.
Do not teach to the list in order. Skills 3, 5 and 12 (counting objects, knowing the total, more and fewer) matter more than skills 2 and 10 (reciting to 20, reading numerals). A child who can recite to 30 and counts five blocks as eight needs skill 3, however good the reciting sounds. The same point, for four-year-olds, is in what math skills should a 4 year old have.
What is normal at each age
| Age | Usually ticked | Usually arriving | Not expected yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Sorting, more and fewer, counting to 3 or 5, circle | Counting five objects, position words | Numerals, patterns, counting to 20 |
| 4 | Counting to 10, five objects, the total, basic shapes, simple patterns | Numerals to 5, counting out a set, ordering by size | Adding and taking away, numerals to 10 |
| 5 | Most of the 24 | Adding and taking away with objects, counting to 20, making patterns | Written sums, counting to 100 |
One ten-minute activity for each area
- Counting: set the table. How many people? How many forks do we need? Count them out, one for each place. This is skills 3, 4, 5 and 6 in one job.
- Number sense: dice and snacks. Roll a die, say the number without counting the dots, take that many raisins. Roll again: who has more?
- Shapes and space: shape hunt and hide the bear. Find five circles in the room. Then hide a toy and give clues with position words only: it is under something, next to something blue.
- Measuring: the shoe line. Line up everyone's shoes from shortest to longest. How many blocks long is Dad's shoe?
- Sorting and patterns: the laundry. Sort socks into pairs, then lay them out big, small, big, small, and ask what comes next.
None of these needs a worksheet. At this age a pencil adds nothing to the math.
What does not belong on a preschool checklist
Writing numerals neatly, written addition, counting to 100, telling the time and knowing coins by value are kindergarten and Grade 1 skills. A preschooler who cannot do them is on schedule. The wider picture, including letters and early writing, is in what should a 4 year old know academically.
When to mention it to someone
Ask the preschool teacher or pediatrician if, close to age five, a child cannot count three objects, does not seem to notice more and fewer, or has lost skills they had. Most of the time the answer is more play with numbers. Sometimes it is worth an early look, and early is when help is easiest.
Do preschoolers need a tutor?
Almost never for math alone. A parent and the five activities above are enough for nearly every child. Families come to us at this age for a different reason: a move between countries or school systems, a kindergarten entry assessment, or a child who is far ahead and wants more. For those, a 1-on-1 online class of 25 to 30 minutes with games on a shared screen, and a parent alongside, works from about four and a half; the kindergarten math page shows what it covers. The free first class will tell you, honestly, whether your child needs it.
Questions parents ask
1What math skills should a preschooler have?
2What is on a preschool math skills checklist?
3What math should a child know before kindergarten?
4How do I use a preschool math checklist?
5Should I worry if my preschooler cannot count to 20?
See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →
Shobha
Founder and lead tutor, Science with Shobha
Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.