Early Number Sense
This page gives a range of free resources that will help children to recognise small quantities. A range of different visual representations are used. Presentations and resources also help to introduce key maths concepts and ideas.
'How many dots?' subitizing games
| Subitizing Cards | Subitizing PowerPoint Games |
|---|---|
| Dot Pattern Cards, 1-3 | How many dots? (1-3) How many dots? (2-4) |
| Dot Pattern Cards, 4-6 | How many dots? (3-5) How many dots? (4-6) |
| How many dots? Different sizes (3-6) How many dots? Two colours (4-6) |
To play Match Bingo, children roll a dice and cross off a matching quantity.
To play One More Bingo and One Less Bingo children roll a numeral dice and cross off a quantity that is one more or one less.
To play Dominoes Car Park children place dominoes on the grid based on the number of spots on the domino.
'How many dots?' 5-frame & 10-frame games
| 5-frame & 10-frame cards | 5-frame & 10-frame PowerPoint Games |
|---|---|
| 5-frame cards, 1-5 | How many dots? (2-4) How many dots? (3-5) How many dots? (4-5 in 10-frame) |
| 10-frame cards, 6-10 | How many dots? (5-7) How many dots? (6-9) How many dots? (7-9) |
The Finger Cards, 1-10 help children to recognise quantities using base-5 and base-10.
'How many lines?' games
| Shape pattern cards | 'How many lines?' PowerPoint games |
|---|---|
| Lines cards, 3-5 | How many lines? (3-5) |
| Lines cards, 4-6 | How many lines? (4-6) |
Part-whole games
| Part-whole cards | Introductory PowerPoints for part-whole cards |
|---|---|
| Part-whole dice pattern cards, 4-6 | Intro to part-whole dice pattern cards (3-6) |
| Part-whole 10-frame cards, 6-10 | Intro to part-whole 10-frame cards (6-10) |
The 'Equals Means Same As' PowerPoint presentation shows number sentences being built with the whole first (e.g. 5=3+2).
These dice games help children to visualise two parts within a number:
Make 6 Make 7 Make 8 Make 9 Make 10
Here are questions for number bonds to 6, 7, 8 and 9. Children can access the questions by placing Numicon shapes over the Numicon image at the top of the page:
Recognising doubles
| Doubles cards | Introductory PowerPoints for doubles cards |
|---|---|
| Doubles cards, 4-10 | Intro to doubles cards (4-10) |
| Doubles cards, 12-20 | Intro to doubles cards (12-20) |
Activities
The Count On Races game, played by an adult and a child, helps children learn to count on mentally. A coin or a dice with 1 or 2 on each face is used. Children say the next number when counting on. For example, when starting from 7, for a jump of 2 we say '8,9'.
The Cube Model (4-6) and Cube Model Advanced (4-6) tasks, children recreate the models. This task develops visual-spatial skills and helps children to recognise two parts within the whole.
The Reasoning in Addition Puzzles get children thinking deeply about the value of different shapes. This Mathsbot link allows you to generate new reasoning in addition puzzles.
Visual Representations
This article explains the importance of children's finger discrimination skills and this article gives different ways in which fingers can be used. Here are some Finger Discrimination tasks by Youcubed.
These Base-5 and Base-10 Number Tracks are coloured to help children to see quantities within a number track.
This Online Base-5 Abacus by Math Rack represents quantities 10-100 using a base-5 colouring.
The Coloured 100-Squares help to identify patterns in the 100-square and can support children as they count in 2s and 5s.
The Teens & Tens Cards help children to discern between teen and tens numbers. The Place Value Sorting Task show different representations of teen numbers and challenge children to spot misconceptions.
Progression in Pattern
The Progression in Pattern guidance shows how children's understanding of repeating patterns can be built. The Grids for Repeating Patterns can be used as children look to create circular patterns with a fixed number of spaces.
Fluency in Calculation Within 20
Spatial Reasoning in Early Childhood, Early Childhood Maths Group
Deconstructing Word Questions KS1 Tasks and Build-Up Presentation
