Looking for a crafty way to check your students’ counting skills? You’ll love our adorable Counting on the Farm to 10 & 20: Sheep Craft! This fun, hands-on activity combines early number concepts with creativity and fine motor practise, making it perfect for Foundation and early years learners.

Students will count and glue cotton wool balls onto their sheep to represent a number from 1 to 10 or 1 to 20—strengthening one-to-one correspondence and counting accuracy while engaging in tactile learning. They’ll also complete a themed recording template in the shape of a wool sack to reinforce number recognition and number writing.

With two differentiated options included (a cut-and-paste craft and a worksheet version), this resource can be easily adapted to suit your students’ abilities or time constraints. Add the colourful banner for an eye-catching farmyard-themed classroom display!

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Count and represent numbers up to 10 and 20
• ✅ Develop one-to-one correspondence through hands-on counting
• ✅ Practise number writing and numeral recognition
• ✅ Strengthen fine motor skills through cutting, gluing, and assembling
• ✅ Engage creatively with number concepts in a playful context

What’s Included:

• Sheep template for adding cotton wool balls
• Wool sack recording template
• Cut-and-paste backing template option
• Ready-to-go worksheet version
• “Counting on the Farm” display banner

Materials Needed:

• Printed templates (on paper or card)
• Cotton wool balls
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Pencils or markers for recording numbers
• Optional: coloured backing paper or pegs for display

How to Use:

1. Choose either the cut-and-paste or worksheet version based on your class needs.
2. Students count out and glue the correct number of cotton balls onto their sheep template.
3. They record the number on the wool sack recording sheet.
4. Display student work using the included banner for a cute and cohesive classroom display.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use during a farm-themed maths unit or as a counting assessment
• 💡 Add to your maths rotations as a creative independent task
• 💡 Include as part of a fine motor station with small group support
• 💡 Pair with a farm picture book to extend cross-curricular learning
• 💡 Encourage students to write a number sentence to match their sheep

Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Pre-cut templates for younger students or those needing extra support
• 💛 Laminate the banner so it can be reused for future farm-themed displays
• 💛 Use coloured cotton balls for added fun or to group different number sets
• 💛 Let students choose their own target number for differentiation

Counting on the Farm to 10 & 20: Sheep Craft is a hands-on way to combine maths and art while building early number sense and fine motor skills—your students will be counting sheep in no time!