Helping kids gain confidence with their number sense skills sets the foundation for them as they continue to learn more about maths and problem solving. But what exactly is number sense? And if it’s so important, how can we keep kids engaged as they practise this skill? This blog post answers both of those questions, so keep reading to find out more!
WHAT IS NUMBER SENSE?
Number sense in maths refers to a person’s ability to understand, work with and communicate through numbers. It could be thought of as number fluency or confidence with numbers. Practising number sense from an early age helps children gain confidence with other areas of maths and assists with their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
ACTIVITIES TO HELP KIDS PRACTISE NUMBER SENSE
Now that we know what number sense is, let’s look at some fun and interesting ways to help kids practise this skill.
Order Number Cards
This is a super cute and engaging activity to help young kids practise number sense. Children will arrange the cars in order along the road. While it feels like a game to them, they’re also practising a range of maths skills like counting, ordering, sorting and comparing numbers.
If this looks like an activity that your little ones would love to try, head to the following link for your copy: Cars in a Row Number Order Activity.
Match Number Cards
Another simple way to help children count, recognise and understand numbers is by using matching cards. Children will count the number of dots on one card and then find the numeral to represent the number of dots. With time, they’ll become quicker at identifying the number of dots.
You can find a copy of the cards pictured below through the following link: Number Matching Cards.
Count Pictures
For students who are still working on counting and recognising numbers, try counting pictures. This can help with counting and quantifying as well as number recognition. Plus, it’s a super simple activity that can easily fit into your existing routine.
The ready-to-use Counting Pictures Worksheets below can be found here: Counting Pictures Worksheets.
Count the Room
If you want to put a more creative twist on counting pictures, try ‘counting the room’. In this activity, students will move around the room looking for cards that have pictures for them to count. They then record the number of pictures on each card before looking for the next one.
If you’d like a set of Count the Room cards that are ready to print and use with your students, take a look at these Cute Bee-Themed Count the Room Cards.
Build Number Towers
For those students who find hands-on activities engaging, try building number towers. Simply give students a number and have them use that number of connectable blocks to build a tower. You can even find blocks that have numbers on them, or you can write numbers on the blocks, if you’d like to turn this into a number ordering task.
Find What Comes Before / After
Being able to quickly identify which numbers come before or after another number is one of the foundational skills involved in number sense. Sometimes students may be confident with counting from 0-20, for example, but struggle to count when they need to start from the number 7. To assist children in practising this skill, try using simple worksheets like the one pictured below. These worksheets prompt students to continue numbering from various given starting points.
You can click here to find your copy of the Number Order Worksheets pictured below.
Display Number Posters
Having number posters on display can be a simple and useful way to reinforce number sense in your learning space. As kids view the posters repeatedly, they’ll become more familiar with them. Plus, they can be a great reference tool during maths activities.
If you want some cute, kid-friendly number posters for your learning space, click here to grab a copy of the Bear Themed Number Posters pictured below.
Use Hundreds Charts
A hundreds chart is such a versatile tool to include in your maths lessons. Hundreds charts are especially helpful when teaching number sense, as they give kids a clear visual representation of all the numbers between 1 – 100 and where they are in relation to each other. They make a great reference tool and can be used for a range of activities.
Pictured below are some cute Animal Themed Hundreds Charts that are available here.
Solve Hundreds Chart Puzzles
Once students have become familiar with hundreds charts, you can challenge them to complete hundreds chart puzzles. Simply split a hundreds chart into sections that serve as puzzle pieces, and have students put the hundreds chart back together. This gives them an opportunity to use their problem-solving skills and their number sense to compare and order numbers to 100.
For a set of hundreds chart puzzles that vary in difficulty and are ready to print, cut and use, head to this link: Hundreds Chart Puzzles.
Explore Tally Marks
Another handy tip for improving children’s number sense is engaging them in activities that utilise tally marks. Tally marks are an often-underrated way to display numbers to kids. They help students with grouping and skip counting, particularly when working with groups of 5 or 10.
An example of a tally mark activity is the Count and Tally activity below. Here, students will count how many times they can see each of the images listed. Then they tally the pictures as they count them.
To grab your copy of this birthday-themed tally mark activity, click here: Birthday Themed Addition with Tally Marks.
Complete Number Sense Logic Puzzles
The last activity that I recommend using to help kids with number sense skills is completing number sense logic puzzles. Logic puzzles in general are great for developing kids’ problem-solving skills. When you make the logic puzzles focus on number sense, you’ve got the perfect combination to help children with their number skills and problem solving.
Logic puzzles that focus on number sense can be hard to find, so I created my own, as pictured below. Here, I’ve written some short stories that involve a collection of different numbers. The numbers are given to students. They then need to read through the story and use logic and the process of elimination to work out which digit makes the most sense in each part of the story.
If you’d like to save yourself time and grab some number sense logic puzzles that are ready to use with your students, click here: Number Sense Logic Puzzle Stories.
I hope that these ideas inspire you to try something new with your students. You can use the links to buy your own copies of the printable resources I’ve referenced in this blog post.
Do you want some tips for helping students learn place value while you’re here? Then have a read through my post of Fun Place Value Activity Ideas.
P.S. I love to hear how my tips and resources are helping you in your teaching, so leave a comment to let me know!
Have a question or a request? You can contact me at blueskydesignsbymrst@gmail.com.
The Musings of Mrs T 