Math Games and Activities - teaching 0-10

You can help your child build basic math skills at home without any special materials

Note: this page is a work in progress that we will continue to add to. Last update: July 12, 2020

1) Learning quantities

We start with 1-5. then work on 6-10

• Learn the song "Yellow is the Sun"  to teach quantities 1-10 (start with just singing 1-5 until your child is confident with those)
• Tips for parents: Teaching 1-10 with fingers (sorry the lighting is so poor!)
• Tips for parents: Subitizing 1-5 with color tiles (can use other objects instead!)
• Movement Game: Ordering Finger Cards
• Movement Game: Distance Matching

What's "subitizing"

Subitizing (SOO-bi-tighz-ing) is seeing at a glance how many objects are in a group. (example: if I hold up 4 fingers, you know it is 4 without needing to count each finger) Subitizing gives a better understnading of numbers than just counting.
Math should be mostly UNDERSTANDING concepts, NOT memorization of facts. Subitizing gives this essential foundation for building understanding!

2) Learning numerals

Numerals are the written symbols we use to represent numbers ("5" is the numeral for five, etc.). At this stage, they are learning the NAMES of the numerals; connecting those to the amounts they represent is a separate concept, and comes after they know that the symbol "4" is 'four', etc.

• Tips for caregivers: Teaching Numerals at home 
• Game: What's Missing?

3) Connecting quantity and numeral 1-10

Once your child is confident with identifying both quantities and the numerals, we can put them together - the numeral "3" represents the quantity 

• In the classroom, we first connect quantity and symbol with number rods and number cards. At home, you can use cards/papers that have 1-10 dots on them (grouped in 5s!) for your child to match with cards/papers that have numerals 1-10

Other 1-10 Activities:

• The Zero Game
• Montessori Odds & Evens activity - have numbers 1-10 on papers/cardboard ready & 55 small objects (beans, stones, cheerios, etc.) before starting Note: this is a classic Montessori activity. I have slightly adapted it to incorporate subitizing skills
• Montesori Memory Game of Numbers
• Quantity matching game - with number cards or tally, finger, or dot cards