Math Activities for Preschoolers: Wikki Stick Arithmetic

Have you heard of Wiiki Stix? They are slightly sticky, waxy craft sticks that can be used for making sculptures, numbers, letters, shapes – the possibilites are really endless! I ordered the Wikki Stix Numbers and Counting Fun Cards for Learning, which are a great concept – each number one through twenty is outlined on the card, so kids can press the wikki stix onto the outline to make numbers. This gives preschoolers hands on practice forming number shapes and develops fine motor skills and number recognition.

Although I thought the cards were interesting, my 3-year old tired of them quickly, so we invented our own math activities with the Wikki Stix. I cut up some cardstock and made some numbers (these remind me of Montessori sandpaper letters).

We used these to form equations.

Then we got out some pony beads……and made some patterns.

Then we made some counting beads with the Wikki Stix, and matched them with the numbers.

We did some more activities with the counting beads – such as arranging them from smallest to largest. You could even incorporate skip counting with older preschoolers – for example, use the 10-bead and the 1-bead to represent 11, to represent 23 you would use 2 10-beads and the 3-bead.

Looking for even more activities? The Wonder Years blog has some great ideas and teaching tips for working with counting beads Montessori-style. Also see more math and science activities right here at Preschool Universe.

Lots of learning fun and no mess! We will definitely buying Wikki Stix again. They would be fantastic for travel. You can order your own Wikki Stix at Amazon – here are a few of the sets available:

Numbers and Counting Fun Cards

Wikki Stix Jumbo Set (144pc)

The Wikki Stix Book of Wiggles, Squiggles & Curlicues

Wikki Stix Tons of Fun

Wikki Stix Big Count Box

Wikki Stix Glow in the Dark

Do you know of any fun activities with Wikki Stix? We’d love to hear about them – leave us a link in the comments!