This free worksheet gives toddlers a simple counting and colouring task in one sheet. No prep, no mess, no cost. Just print, hand your child a crayon, and watch them go. Got a toddler aged two to four? This is worth printing. Quick, screen-free, and built around real early maths skills.
What the Worksheet Covers
Five numbers. Five objects. One page. The Tappy Toes Nursery “1, 2, 3… Colour Me!” worksheet runs from one to five. Each row gives your child a number, a word, and a set of pictures to count and colour in. Row one: colour one sun yellow. Row two: colour two apples red. Row three: three stars yellow. Row four: four hearts pink. Row five: five balloons, any colour your child likes. That last row matters. Giving kids a free choice at the end keeps the activity fun instead of rigid.
Why Count and Colour Works
Most parents think colouring is just art time. It is not. When a toddler colours inside a shape, they are building fine motor control. The grip, the pressure, the direction of stroke, these are the same hand movements needed for writing later. Add counting on top and you have a two-skill task in one sitting. The brain links number recognition with a visual object and a physical action at the same time. That link sticks. A number on a flashcard alone does not do this. The worksheet does.
Sound too simple? That is the point. Toddlers learn best through short, focused tasks with clear instructions. Five rows, five minutes, done. No screen, no battery required.
How to Use It at Home
Print it, sit with your child, and let them lead. Do not read all the instructions at once. Point to row one, say the number out loud together, count the picture, then hand them the right colour crayon. Let them colour. Move to row two. That rhythm, say, count, colour, is a simple loop that toddlers pick up fast. By row three, most kids are reading ahead on their own.
A few things that help. Use chunky crayons for children under three. Thin ones snap fast and frustrate little hands. If your child colours outside the lines, leave it. That is fine motor work happening, not a mistake. And if they stop at row three, that is also fine. Put the sheet away and finish it the next day. Short bursts beat one long session at this age.
What Your Child Is Learning
This is not busywork. Every row on the sheet targets a real skill. Number recognition is the obvious one. Your child sees the numeral 3 and connects it to three stars. That is number-to-quantity matching, a key early maths building block. But the sheet covers more than that.
Colour naming, listening, and following a two-step instruction are all in there too. So is one-to-one counting, which means touching each object once as they count. Most three-year-olds skip-count or double-count. This sheet slows that down.
The EYFS framework at Tappy Toes Nursery covers all of these areas. Counting, recognising numbers, and understanding quantity sit inside the Mathematics strand. Fine motor work sits inside Physical Development. One sheet. Two EYFS areas. That is not a small thing for a free printable.
Download Your Free Worksheet
The worksheet is free. One click. No sign-up, no email needed. Print it at home on A4 paper and keep a few copies so your child can do it more than once. Each time they sit with it, the task gets a little faster, a little neater, a little more confident.
At Tappy Toes Nursery, we believe learning at home should feel like play, not school. This worksheet is built on the same count-and-colour approach our teachers use in nursery sessions across Dubai South, Karama, Sharjah, and Fujairah. It is the same thinking, just in a format you can use at your kitchen table.
Print it today.
If your child enjoys it and you want to see more of how we bring early maths to life, book a nursery tour and walk through our classrooms in person. Our team would love to show you what early learning looks like when it is done well.
