Hi, friends! Ready to go through your math manipulatives? I know many of you in the Savvy Apple Community are heading back to school this month. Last week, I chatted about some activities that you can do with your students the first week back at school that will help them readjust back to the school environment. I hope you found some of the ideas helpful as you planned your lessons for the beginning of the new school year.
This week, I’m continuing our conversation about back to school prep by chatting about the top 10 math manipulatives that you definitely should have for your elementary-aged students. These are great for K-2 grades. You probably already have a lot of these within your supplies, but that’s still okay. 😊 Sometimes, they can get buried in our cabinets, and we need a little reminder to bring them out into the classroom.
Did you know that you can also use math “manipulatives” in your digital resources? It’s super easy to add them in to your templates to use over and over again for different themes and skills. I’ll also show you a few that will work great with extending learning from hands-on activities. If you are not creating your own digital resources, grab this free workbook I created based on the process I use to create my own resources. Now, let’s start talking about math manipulatives…
#1 Bear Counters
A lot of children are introduced to these cute math manipulatives in preschool. They are colorful and so handy to have around for many types of math activities. Students can count groups of bears and match them to math mats. They can also group them by color. I like to have many bags of these in my cabinets because they work so well in math centers. When you have a large amount of the colored bears, you can also have students create patterns with them. Depending on your students’ interests, you can also store collections of small 🦕 , cars, etc. to keep your students engaged in the activities. It’s really important to know your students’ interests. That’s why finding this out is part of my process for creating my own, personalized digital activities for my class. Read more about this process here.
#2 Dice
I suggest that all teachers have handfuls of dice in their classroom storage. These can be used for so many things, and they always get lost or taken home. 😉 I also like to have different sizes of dice for my students. It makes activities fun! Dice can be used for counting activities. They can also be used for many types of teacher-made board games. I love to, again, use my students interests to create math games that will keep them engaged in learning new skills. Students can roll dice and add them up. My students really like to play the game where each student rolls dice and finds the sum of the pair. Then, the student with the highest roll takes a counter from the other player. Whoever has the most counters at the end of the game, wins.
#3 Unifix Cubes
These are plastic, connecting cubes that most teachers have in their classroom. They are, however, a very useful manipulative to have around. You can use them in one-to-one correspondence, patterns, and place value activities. Younger students can also use them as a tool of measurement.#4 Measurement Tools
Speaking of measuring items, I think it’s important for teachers to keep various measuring tools available for their students. Any object can be a non-standard measuring tool, but you want to make sure to have enough standard measuring tools to go around. I keep a variety of measuring tapes and rulers of various lengths. I also include meter and yard sticks.
#5 Geometric Shapes
These come in big buckets of various shapes and sizes and help teach students about 2D shapes. They can be used to not only teach early geometry concepts, but can also be used for patterns and color grouping. Popsicles sticks and pipe cleaners could also be used for students to create various shapes. They can be used to make designs and with math mats. The digital resource above can be used to help 1st graders learn about 2D and 3D shapes. If you are creating your own digital resources, here’s some 2D shape clip art to help you put moveable images in your designs. Click here to see more.
#6 Rocks
This manipulative item could also be pinecones, bottle caps, seashells, or marbles. Rocks are just really easy to come by. 😊 Have a few of your students empty their pockets after playground time. You’ll have a great collection by mid-year.😉 These manipulatives can be used for counting, patterns, adding, subtracting, etc. Collections of small items really are good to have around in a classroom. They can be used for so many things!#7 Two Color Counters
Another great manipulative for counting, sorting, and place value activities. I also use them for ten frames. Another great thing about these counters is that they can be used for multiple grade levels. I really like how versatile they are.
#8 Clocks
Students love to play with clocks. I remember when I was learning about time, we would make paper plate clocks with working hands. This is a great activity, but I like to keep real-world clocks on display in the classroom. There are many plastic clocks with working gears also available on the market. You might even have some of these already. They can be used to introduce younger students to the concept of telling time. They can help students also understand the placement of the hands at different times of the day. The digital resource above helps extend learning for 1st graders. It’s an interactive Google Slide activity that students will find fun and engaging!
