Since we refer to our 100 chart so often, I laminated it.
Here are a few of the fun ways we do math – hands on and using visuals to make math concepts come alive.
- Counting! Of course, you can use it for counting. Point to the numbers as you go. But, to make it more fun, place objects on the numbers to count them. This is especially helpful for young children just learning to count. They can see the one-to-one ratio. Otherwise, children may just zoom through the numbers they know and not point to each object. Or, they may skip saying numbers. Placing the objects on each number forces it to be accurate. (Of course, this only works if your objects are small enough to fit on your chart.) Counting out our gummies snacks was a win for math that day!
- Money counting! This is similar to the last but is specific to money math. So, grab your money jar and have the kids help count the money. Place one penny on each number. That equals $1. Now, place all the dimes on the chart. Each row equals $1. You can have your child count by 10s to get to 100 for each row. This particular chart is too small for it to work well with quarters and nickels. However, we used to have a larger chart. Then, we could count nickels – $5 for a full chart. And if you have that many quarters – $25 for a full chart.My kids have enjoyed using the chart to count how much money we have saved in our money jar. It actually is almost cheating – fill up the chart without actually counting to 100. It’s certainly easier than counting and losing track of where you are at and having to start over.
- Practice adding and subtracting 10. Before we do this on paper, we learn this concept by looking at the chart. What is 45+10? Have your child point to 45 and then move their finger down. Do this again with other numbers. 77+10, 23+10, etc. If that concept is mastered (not necessarily the same day), then have them learn the subtraction facts. What is 52-10? Have your student point to 52 and then move their finger up. Continue with other examples.
- Skip counting activities. Make copies of your hundred chart so that you can write on them. You could color (or mark with small objects) as you skip count. Then, you could identify patterns. There are many varieties to this activity.
- Color the evens (skip counting 2s) with one color and color the odds with another color.
- Color the 5s or the 10s. The 2s, 5s, and 10s have the most obvious patterns, but you could choose to do any of the skip counting. Do a separate chart for each skip counting (2s on one chart, 3s on the one chart, 4s on one chart, etc).
- Learn about prime numbers. This time, use only one chart. Color all the multiples of 2 except 2. Color all the multiples of 3 except 3, color all the multiples of 5 except 5. Color all the multiples of 7 except 7. The remaining numbers should be the prime numbers (with the exception of “1”). You could color all the multiples of 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10, but these would already be colored in when you color in the 2s, and 3s, so it is not a necessary step. However, you could prove this with your child by counting by 4s and seeing that all of those numbers are already colored in.
- Try “Buzz the Number” skip counting game.
5. Visual for helping kids understand large numbers. For example, when we were reading a story that mentioned 100 sheep, it was helpful to pull out the 100 chart and talk about how many. The number chart gives a picture of how many. It’s easy enough to count to 10 on your fingers, but the number chart is useful to show higher quantities. We could use small objects to represent how many of something in a story.
6. Puzzle. Cut the one hundred chart into large sections. Have your child reassemble the chart. This helps them practice putting numbers in order and see how it all fits together.
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