Kindergarten Elementary Preschool
MathPrintables
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Learning to count is one thing, but practicing number sense skills can really help your child truly understand numbers.
This gumball number sense activity is perfect for children that are either just starting to learn about the various forms that numbers come in or for those that need a little extra practice.
Gumball Number Sense Activity
Number sense can be a tricky concept for some children, especially those that struggle with dyscalculia and other math related issues.
For those that are truly struggling with basic numbers and their orders, you’ll want to work on mastering those early math skills first before trying to move onto number sense. The puzzles in our new book, Dot to Dot Activities for Learning, can help tremendously with that as your child will start small (puzzles that include numbers 1-10) and will work their way up to more complex puzzles (those that use numbers to 100 or skip count by 10s).
For those that are ready to move onto number sense, this fun treat inspired activity creates a bright and colorful way to practice without simply trying to memorize.
With this activity, your child will learn that there are numerous ways that a single number can be written.
They’ll learn that 3 and three mean the same thing and they’ll learn that beyond numerals and number words, multiple symbols can be used to represent a quantity
Practicing Numbers 1-10 with Gumballs
This particular activity works on numbers 1-10 and within the download, you’ll find that each number is represented by the number is represented on the gumball machine and five gumballs using:
- number word
- tally marks
- dominoes
- ten frames
- counting fingers
To use the activity, simply print the various pieces out, cut out the gumballs, and laminate them all for durability.
Give your child the gumball mats and set out the various gumball pieces and have them try to match each of the numbered gumballs to the correct gumball machine.
As they’re working through the numbered mats, explain to them that numbers can appear in various forms, but that the number 3 and someone holding up 3 fingers, for instance, mean the same thing.
When they’ve mastered these, head on over and grab a copy of our gumball color words file folder game to keep you busy!
