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One of the most exciting things about teaching kindergarten is that we’re helping students master math and literacy skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. Number sense is one of those important foundational skills. In this post, I’m sharing number sense activities for kindergarten that will help your students get a strong start in learning numbers!
Number sense is the ability to identify and understand the meaning of numbers and the relationships between them. Students with strong number sense are able to apply their knowledge of numbers to a variety of math tasks.
Just like students need to be explicitly taught about the letters and sounds of the alphabet, kindergarteners also need direct instruction to help them build a strong foundation of number sense.
These engaging activity ideas will help your students develop their number sense through repetition. Young students thrive on routine and review, but it can become tedious for them to do the exact same activities over and over.
This is why it’s helpful to have a wide variety of number sense activities in your teacher toolbox! Here’s a peek at five of my favorite ways to help students deepen their understanding of numbers.
Focusing on one number at a time gives students a chance to really explore the meaning of what that numeral represents. They are able to get a good handle on the quantity, as well as how that number relates to other numbers.
Number boards can be used as interactive anchor charts for students to reference as they practice one number at a time. Whether you’re focusing on a number of the day or a number of the week, this interactive activity gives students the opportunity to visualize the number in many different ways.
For example, you can talk about the formation of the numeral. As you write it on the number board, students can practice writing it with their finger in the air or on the carpet. Then you can move on to the different ways the number can be represented: Using fingers, dice, ten frames, unit blocks, and so on.
Number hats are a great way for students to essentially create their own wearable number anchor charts! Each hat reinforces different concepts that students need to practice in order to deepen their number sense.
First, students can practice number formation as they color in the large number on the crown. This is a great opportunity for rainbow writing! Then, students will color in the correct number of stars to match the number. They will also choose which representations of the number are correct and attach those to the hat. Finally, students will practice tracing the number and number word on the hat band.
The final product is a fun hat that students can wear around the school and then take home. This will give them another chance to talk about numbers since people are likely to ask them about the hat they’re wearing.
For even more repetition with skills like one-to-one correspondence and number formation, students can complete their own printable number books.
These books give students the chance to improve their number sense by focusing on one number at a time.
Students will practice number formation through rainbow writing, tracing, and writing both the numeral and the number word.
They can also represent the number in many different ways, like filling in a ten frame and making tally marks.
Another way that students can strengthen their number sense with these printable books is through counting. They can count groups of objects and identify whether that grouping contains the target number of objects or not.
When you’re looking for ways to add more number sense practice to your daily routine, print-and-go activities can come in handy!
Number sense worksheets can help you provide targeted number practice to the students in your classroom. If there is a particular number or concept that requires more practice, you can select activities to meet those needs.
The other great thing is that number sense printables can easily fit into any part of the routine, so you can find the best way for students to get this extra practice. Whether it’s morning work, math centers, or homework, your students will benefit from more repetition with number identification, counting, number formation, and more.
When we think of number sense in kindergarten, we often think of the numbers to ten. However, kindergarten students also need to put their number sense skills to use as they learn about teen numbers.
The work they put into learning about ten frames will make it so much easier for them to understand things like place value. This knowledge will serve them well as they learn more advanced math concepts in the future.
This is why it’s important to continue practicing number sense when your students are ready to learn about teen numbers. Print-and-go teen number printables are a great way to incorporate this practice into your school day!
All of the activities featured in this post are included in one money-saving bundle. You can have all of these engaging number sense activities in one organized download! This bundle includes a variety of hands-on activities that you can use throughout your daily learning routine. You can incorporate more number sense practice during morning work, math centers, small group intervention, and more!
Would you like to take a closer look at everything included in this bundle? Just click on one of the buttons below to find these number sense activities in the A Spoonful of Learning shop or in my TPT store.
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find this post when you’re looking for engaging number sense activities for your math lesson plans.
These alphabet books will have students dive deep into learning about each letter of the alphabet while eager to see what activity they get to complete next!
