Must-Have Math Manipulatives for Elementary Kids
You can get math manipulatives out the yin-yang. I remember looking at one math curriculum and it came with a large tub of math manipulatives. My eyes were like … 👀. Holy toledo. There were so many. We live in a small home that did not come with a storage closet, linen closet, or pantry situation. I’ve had to get creative with where I can put things. Mind you, there is also a limited amount of space for furniture.
There were two things I knew for sure. One, I have a small space. And two, I didn’t want to manage tons of stuff. All the math manipulatives I own are able to fit inside one small drawer in our dresser below our T.V. If you want to see how I organize our homeschool stuff, click here. I understand everyone is different. Some people like tons of options to switch things up, but if you’re like me and want the math manipulatives that are going to be worth your time and money, then I won’t let you down. I’ve got a list of the must-have, it’s not even a question, add to cart math manipulatives that will help your child learn the fundamentals in math.
It is so crucial for your child to understand the fundamentals of math so that they can build upon their skills when they get to more complex math. What are the fundamentals of math anyway? Number sense, operations, and shapes are some. Math builds upon itself. So mastering addition will be extremely helpful in multiplication because you are essentially adding groups a.k.a repeated addition. Kids need to know why it’s happening and not just the steps to get to the answer. Remember back in the day, in school, when teachers taught you how to carry over the one? It didn’t even occur to me that I has carrying over a ten because the ones place was greater than ten. I just did it cause my teacher said you leave the ones place number and you carry over the tens place number. Or maybe my teacher did tell me, and I have a bad memory. Which I am known for, not gonna lie. My point is kids must know why the numbers work the way they do and math manipulatives help them to see it.
I used all of these math manipulatives, minus the place value discs, when I was a third grade teacher. I am still using them as I homeschool my two girls. They love clicking the cubes together and Emme said, “I’m so glad I don’t have to make tens anymore!” when I brought out the place value discs. It can take a long time to make ten tens! These have been so helpful to use!
UNIFIX CUBES
My very first classroom was a hot mess. The teacher before me had moved out of state and left so much stuff shoved into cubbies and cabinets. When I discovered tubs of unifix cubes, I was so excited. I knew they were going to be highly valuable and well used. Who geeks out over unifix cubes? 🙋🏻♀️ I made sure to tell NO ONE I hit the jackpot of unifix cubes.
Unifix cubes should be a non-negotiable math manipulative. I’m serious! They can be used in so many ways, you’ll be mind blown. They can be used to help beginner learners count and understand sequence. Students can use them to build tens that turn into hundreds, that turn into thousands! If you get the ones that attach to the sides, they can become arrays for multiplication. They can be used as basic counters. Need I say more! Get some unifix cubes!
PLACE VALUE DISCS
I’m not gonna lie, I had no idea what a place value disc was. Am I old? Are these new? Probably not, but I’ve never used them until now. I discovered them in my daughters math curriculum. It said to use place value discs. 🤷🏻♀️ I did a quick Google search, found them. They’re everywhere. Who’da thought? Anyways, if your child understands base ten blocks—ten ones makes a ten, ten tens makes a hundred etc., place value discs are much quicker to use when solving multi digit equations because they don’t have to build the pieces anymore.
Each place value is color coordinated. I found it’s best to at least sort the ones discs, tens discs, and hundreds discs into separate baggies. Otherwise they are digging for days trying to find the right discs.
FRACTION BLOCKS
Fraction blocks are here to save the day people! Fractions are a hard and confusing concept to understand. The smaller the denominator the larger the fraction trips them up almost every time. It makes sense they would be confused because usually larger numbers means more. But not in the world of fractions. Fraction blocks makes it so much easier for kiddos to compare fractions by holding them next to each other. They can visually see what the fraction is representing, which one is the larger fraction, and how many pieces to make a whole. Who ever made them, I could kiss you! They are truly so helpful.
DOUBLE SIDED COUNTERS
I inherited these from the one teacher I already told you about. I kept them because, why not. I didn’t think I’d really use them though. And I don’t think I did when I was a classroom teacher because there wasn’t enough to go around. However, they’ve been super helpful while I’ve been homeschooling my kids. We use them a lot for ten frames and counting. They work well with making groups for dividing and multiplying as well.
TEN FRAMES & DOUBLE TEN FRAMES
You need ten frames. Ten frames and double ten frames are so so helpful for understanding counting and place value. Kids really begin to understand the making of a ten and more than ten by visually seeing it represented on a ten frame. Understanding the value of ten is a core concept they need to understand to be able to grasp greater concepts in math such as adding and subtracting two and three digit numbers and especially mental math.
I don’t think you need to buy ten frames. You could draw a ten frame or double ten frame on a piece of paper. You could print one out by Googling “free downloadable ten frames”. There’s tons out there. You could also open a Word document and create one yourself by making a two by five table.
NUMBER BONDS
The number bond had been our best friend. We use the graphic organizer all the time. While I don’t know I’d consider it a true math manipulative, it’s still worth mentioning. It’s great for young math learners because they can see what is missing—the part or the whole. Kids can see how how numbers can come together or how they can be split a part which early elementary mathematicians need to know for adding and subtracting.
You can draw a number bond on a piece of paper or you can print one out online. There are tons of free ones out there. I printed one out and put it in a dry erase sleeve.
Do you have any fave math manipulatives you like to use?
xo L.
