Nine boxes in a three by three grid, each holding a group of ocean animals with three big numbers underneath. Pufferfish, narwhals, sea urchins, turtles, a whale, hermit crabs, eels, lobsters and penguins. Count the group, circle the number.
The counts go up to nine, and the animals are not lined up in neat rows. The pufferfish and the hermit crabs are stacked in loose clusters, so a child has to keep track of which ones they have already counted rather than sweeping left to right. That is a real step up from a row of four starfish, and it is where counting stops being recitation and starts being a strategy.
Everything is plain black line art on white, so it prints light on ink for a class set, and a child who finishes early can color it in.