Preschool Crafts

6 Number Crafts for Preschoolers (Easy Ideas)

6 number crafts for preschoolers, each with a picture and simple steps. Easy ideas for ages 3 to 5 using paper, paint, and glue.

Kindergarten Prep Team
Oct 14, 2026

A spider has eight legs, an apple tree has as many apples as the child likes, and a watermelon has seeds to count twice. Here are six number crafts for preschoolers, each with a picture, supplies, and steps, from a fingerprint apple tree to a paper plate spider and a 911 phone.

A three-year-old dots apples and presses beans into the red. A five-year-old counts out eight legs before any glue goes on and finds 9, 1, 1 on the paper phone. The octopus legs get counted, then counted again.

Start here: three number crafts that always work

Fingerprint apple tree, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Fingerprint apple treeDot the apples, count them, donePaper plate watermelon, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Paper plate watermelonPaint, then count the seeds onPaper plate spider, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Paper plate spiderEight legs to count before gluing

6 number crafts for preschoolers, with pictures

Paper plate watermelon, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

1. Paper plate watermelon

The child paints the rim green and the middle red, then glues on black beans or punches paper seeds.

You need: 1 paper plate, red paint, green paint, dried black beans, white glue

How to make it
  1. You cut the plate in half and use one half.
  2. Your child paints the curved rim green as the rind and the flat middle red. Let it dry.
  3. Glue black beans on the red part as seeds, pressing each one for a few seconds.
Paper plate spider, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

2. Paper plate spider

The child paints a plate black and adds eight folded paper or pipe cleaner legs and eyes.

You need: 1 small white paper plate, black poster paint, black paper, 2 large googly eyes, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the plate black. Let it dry.
  2. You cut 8 black strips and fold them back and forth like an accordion.
  3. Glue 4 legs under the rim on each side.
  4. Glue the 2 googly eyes on the plate.
Toilet paper roll octopus, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

3. Toilet paper roll octopus

The child paints a cardboard tube, the bottom half is snipped into eight strips that curl out as legs, and eyes are glued on.

You need: 1 toilet paper roll, purple paint, 2 googly eyes, black marker

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the whole roll purple. Let it dry.
  2. You snip the bottom half upward into 8 strips.
  3. Your child bends each strip outward and curls the end up so the legs spread out.
  4. Stick the 2 eyes onto the top half and draw a smile below.
Pot of gold paper plate, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

4. Pot of gold paper plate

The child paints half a paper plate black as a pot, glues on gold coins or yellow circles and adds a rainbow handle.

You need: 1 paper plate, black paint, yellow paper, white paper, red, yellow, green and blue markers, glue stick

How to make it
  1. You cut the plate in half. Your child paints one half black. Let it dry.
  2. Cut yellow circles as coins. Glue them along the straight edge, some poking above it and some on the plate, overlapping.
  3. Cut a curved white strip and colour it in rainbow stripes with the markers.
  4. Glue the rainbow in an arch over the coins, one end at each top corner.
Fingerprint apple tree, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

5. Fingerprint apple tree

The child dots red fingerprints onto a tree drawing and counts the apples.

You need: brown paper, green paper, red poster paint, white paper, glue

How to make it
  1. You cut a brown trunk and a green cloud-shaped treetop.
  2. Your child glues the trunk at the bottom middle of the white sheet, then the treetop above it, overlapping the top of the trunk.
  3. Dip a fingertip in red paint and dot apples on the treetop.
911 phone craft, an easy number craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

6. 911 phone craft

The child glues number buttons onto a paper phone and practises finding 9-1-1.

You need: grey construction paper, white paper squares, 1 sheet of white paper, black marker, red crayon, glue

How to make it
  1. You cut a phone from grey paper: a rectangle body with a rounded handset across the top. Glue it on the white sheet.
  2. Write the numbers 1 to 9 on 9 squares, then star, 0 and hash on 3 more.
  3. Your child glues the squares on the body in 4 rows of 3.
  4. Your child draws a red crayon circle around the 9 and around the 1.
Free · 30 questions · about 4 minutes Is your child on track for kindergarten? Answer 30 questions about what your child does today, and you get a report like this one: Every area at a glance: strong, on track, or worth a little time The one or two areas to focus on first Simple things to do at home for each area How many months you have until kindergarten starts Get my child's free report → Example kindergarten readiness report with a bar for each area: language, social-emotional, math, thinking, fine motor and literacy

Number crafts for 3 year olds

One of these a young three can do almost alone: Fingerprint apple tree. No exact cutting, no small pieces, and the glue stick does the rest.

Number crafts: counting while the glue dries

Say the number as each piece goes on, and count again at the end. 'One leg, two legs.' The spider and the octopus both stop at eight, so the number sticks.

The fingerprint apple tree is the start-here craft: one red ink pad or a dab of paint, a drawn tree, and a three year old can do it alone. Count the apples with them.

The watermelon seeds and the gold coins suit a five year old who can count past ten. Ask for a number first, then let them glue that many.

The 911 phone turns numbers into something useful. Once the buttons are on, press 9, 1, 1 together and say your address.

Free · 30 questions · about 4 minutes Before you go: see where your child is for kindergarten A report with every area at a glance, what to focus on first, and things to do at home. Get my child's free report →

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Preschool Crafts

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