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Button Flower Counting Cards
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Button Flower Counting Cards

Printable flower cards numbered one to six, and a jar of real buttons to fill them. Fine motor work, counting and colour sorting from one small jar.

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Ages 2-55 min prep

My grandmother kept her buttons in a biscuit tin, and I have kept the habit. That jar has quietly become one of the best toys in our house.

Buttons are perfect for small fingers: they are smooth, they are all slightly different, and picking one up and placing it precisely takes real concentration — exactly the muscles that later hold a pencil.

The flower cards give the buttons a job, and my youngest counts out loud without realising she is doing it.

One button at a time, placed carefully in the centre.
One button at a time, placed carefully in the centre.
The leftovers become a colour sorting tray.
The leftovers become a colour sorting tray.

What you'll need

  • The printable button flower cards (download below)
  • A jar of assorted buttons in different colours and sizes
  • A muffin tin or ice cube tray for colour sorting
  • Child-safe tweezers or small tongs, for an extra challenge
  • Optional: laminating pouches so the cards last
  • A tray with a rim — buttons roll

How to make it

  1. 1

    Print the flower cards and cut them apart. Laminate them if you can, so buttons slide rather than tear the paper.

  2. 2

    Lay out the six cards in order, one to six, and tip a handful of buttons into a bowl beside them.

  3. 3

    Invite your child to fill each flower centre with the right number of buttons, counting out loud as each one is placed.

  4. 4

    For toddlers, forget the numbers and just fill the centres — the placing is the skill.

  5. 5

    Add the tweezers for older children: picking up a button with tongs is much harder and much more satisfying.

  6. 6

    Sort the leftover buttons by colour into a muffin tin, then by size, then by number of holes.

  7. 7

    Finish by tipping the buttons back into the jar together — the pouring sound is half the reason they agree to tidy up.

Tip

Buttons are a choking hazard under three — stay at the table for this one, or swap buttons for large pompoms with a younger child. Charity shops and haberdashers sell mixed button bags cheaply, and the more variety the better.