Focusing on the affective dimensions of early childhood learning, the text examines how emotions, motivation, attitudes, and beliefs shape young children’s engagement with foundational academic experiences, particularly mathematics. Drawing on contemporary affective theories such as Pekrun’s Control-Value Theory, the work conceptualizes success and failure emotions as central determinants of children’s approach to learning tasks, emphasizing that perceived control, intrinsic value, and contextualized experiences play decisive roles in cultivating positive dispositions. Within this framework, the study analyzes the impact of a Digital Game-Supported Mathematics Education Program (DODMEP) and standalone Mathematics-Themed Digital Game Applications (MİDOU) on 54–66-month-old children’s enjoyment of mathematics. Employing a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest matched control group design complemented by qualitative observations, the research documents how digital games, when embedded in constructivist, child-centered activities, sustain children’s interest, support motivation, and foster affectively rich learning environments, even though quantitative differences in mathematics-liking scores do not reach statistical significance. Qualitative findings indicate that children generally display positive emotions, high engagement, and playful persistence during digital game–based activities, with integrated programmatic applications eliciting slightly more consistent positive affect than standalone digital games. The study contributes to early childhood education literature by demonstrating that meaningful, developmentally appropriate, game-supported learning experiences enrich children’s emotional relationship with mathematics and highlight the necessity of addressing affective outcomes alongside cognitive gains in early mathematics pedagogy.