Free Online Games to Help Your Child Learn Numbers and Basic Counting Skills

Computers are a great tool for parents who are looking for creative ways to provide learning opportunities for their children. If your child is expressing an interest in learning numbers and basic counting, then check out the following websites to get started.

Note: My best advice is to sit with your young child while they are doing these online activities. This parental interaction will help spark cooperative play while teaching online safety. These games do have sound.

The number and counting games provided in this article are all 100% kid-tested and approved by my own pre-school aged child.

Fishin’ Mission on Kaboose – this game teaches children to count by having them catch a certain number of fish in a net. At the top of the screen, the fisherman tells you how many fish to catch and also displays the number in orange. The game is timed. You must use your mouse to catch a fish and drag it into the net.

Dr. Brain’s Robot on Kaboose – this is a great game for older children although preschoolers may have fun too. Learn basic addition and subtraction skills to activate the robot. This game is timed. A simple math problem is displayed on screen such as 1+2. Your child can choose from 6 available answers by clicking on the computer chip with the correct answer. Drag the computer chip to the robot’s head and press the green activate button.

Count Your Chickens on Learning Planet – In this cute game, children learn basic counting skills by determining how many animals are displayed on screen. Three number choices are provided for your child. Click the correct number and press the green go button to continue. If your child guesses the wrong number, he or she can guess again.

The Counting Game on Learning Planet – This game is a good choice for children of different grade levels. Your child learns to count by factors so younger children will do best sticking to 1. Older children may want to challenge themselves by trying to count by a different factor (such as counting by 3’s).

Learn to Count Baseball Game on Preschool Kids – challenge your sports lover by helping your child learn to count. Each baseball glove has black dots under it. Count the correct number of dots and drag the corresponding number to the glove from the bottom of the page. If you get the wrong answer, you can help trying until you find the right one.

Learn to Count Dinosaurs on Preschool Kids – the game concept is the same as the baseball counting game listed above. Each dinosaur has white dots displayed under it. Count the dots and find the corresponding number at the bottom of the page. Drag the correct number to the dinosaur to win.

Egg Counting Elmo on Sesame Street – This is a great game for younger children as they simply click on displayed eggs to help Elmo count. As each egg is clicked, the correct number is displayed on screen.

Big Bird’s Numbers on Sesame Street – This is another good game for preschoolers as children use the keyboard to learn counting with Big Bird. Each number selected on the keyboard will display the same number of objects on screen. Follow along as Big Bird counts all the objects. Choose from 0 to 9.