Math Manipulatives

 A lot of curricula for young students requires manipulatives. If you're only teaching for a semester or two, only have one student, or don't have a lot of money, you might be reluctant to pour a lot into hands-on tools for math. The good news is, you can count with almost anything!

We've used all of these (and more!) to do addition, subtraction, grouping in sets, counting by twos and fives, etc. 


I store most of my math manipulatives in one box for easy grabbing. I keep a stack of LEGO bricks in here so I don't have to go hunting for them. 


www.themathworksheetsite.com also has a free hundred board printable, here. This site has a mix of free and subscription-only printables, but is only a few dollars a month. A lot of what you need for elementary math is free!

A hundred board can be used to help kids visualize and track addition, subtraction, sets, and more. 


The kid in our household with the more severe ADHD needed this for math everyday for a while, tracking addition problems with some sort of counter piece to hold and move along the board. If a kid is doing the physical work of solving the problem, it's okay to let them give you the answer verbally and write for them. For kids with neurodivergencies or just wiggly young bodies, the switch to writing an answer from doing problem-solving work might be a level of frustration that's counterproductive. Helping them record the answer they did the work to find can lessen that frustration so they can focus on mastering the math concept itself.


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