I am so excited to be teaming up with these amazing teachers to share some of our favorite math strategies for numbers and counting!
Strategy 1: QTips and playing cards!
You can use QTips for colorful manipulatives! I did a whole post on how I made these colorful QTips! You can use Uno cards (or regular playing cards). Students choose a card. They identify the number and count the correct number of QTips!
Strategy 2: Spinners!
My students LOVE spinners!!! I love spinners. It’s a win-win. Spinners can be differentiated so students can work on numbers and counting. They’re low prep. See…win win!
Strategy 3: Dice!
Who doesn’t love dice?! They’re fun. They’re colorful. They can be big and little. They make a great math tool! They can be used to differentiate learning!
Dice Game FREEBIES!
Dice are also great for Roll And Color games! We use roll and color all year long. It’s easily differentiated (do you see my theme?! EASY DIFFERENTIATION!) and fun! You can even add in fun markers to make these games more engaging and smelly!
Strategy 4: Paper Plates
This is a simple, fun and engaging numbers and counting activity. I made this center 7 years ago and these are the exact same plates I made then!!! Yeah…they’ve lasted that long!!!
This can also be differentiated. You can give students numbers to 5…10…20…
Students count the dots and match the number!
Strategy 5: Number ID
This has been one of the most effective number recognition strategies that I’ve used in my 7 years of teaching.
It’s simple. Use construction paper to make a number grid. I made two different sets. One with numbers in order and one with random number order. Then I wrote numbers on index cards.
Students choose a card. Say the number and match it. After we play a few times, we time ourselves to see how fast we can do it. Then we play again to see if we can beat our time! My ‘staches LOVE LOVE LOVE this. And it makes a huge impact in their number recognition!
(I have even sent these home with parents to practice!)
These work mats can even be used for counting practice!
