Count Scattered Stars to 20 in the Night Sky

Show your child how to cross out or touch each picture as they count it. Count slowly through the teens. Check with the answer key.

Count stars, moons and rockets scattered in the night sky and circle each number to 20. The directions on the page read: Find each kind of picture in the night sky. Then, count them. Then, circle the number under its picture. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for Kindergarten counting, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with count up to 20. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Numbers 11-19 are difficult because English number names for teens don't follow a consistent pattern the way numbers 20 and above do. 'Eleven' and 'twelve' give no hint of the digits inside them, unlike 'twenty-one' or 'thirty-two.' Children need extra repetition specifically with the teen numbers.

Most kindergarten classrooms target reliable counting to 20 by mid-year. Children who enter kindergarten already counting to 10 typically reach 20 within the first two months of instruction. The focus then shifts to recognizing and writing the teen numerals accurately.

Count real objects together: crackers at snack time, steps up the stairs, or toys lined up on the floor. When children count physical objects rather than just reciting numbers, they develop stronger one-to-one correspondence and are less likely to skip or double-count in the teens.

Counting to 100 by ones and by tens is the Common Core standard K.CC.A.1, expected by the end of kindergarten. Most students reliably count to 20-30 by midyear, then use skip-counting by tens as a bridge to 100 in the spring.

One-to-one correspondence is touching or pointing to one object for each number word said aloud (CCSS K.CC.B.4), rather than reciting numbers separately from the objects being counted. It's the skill that turns counting from a memorized chant into an understanding of quantity, and it's usually the biggest gap between a child who can count and one who can't yet tell you how many.

Watch for accurate counting of a small group of objects (10-20) without skipping or double-counting, and whether they can write the numerals 0-20 to match. A child who recites numbers quickly but loses track when actually counting objects needs more one-to-one correspondence practice before moving on to bigger numbers.