If your students are making the Bear's Den from back on this post here is a little minimal-prep math game you can play before they start writing!
It's called Tens in the Den and will help your students work with place value.
Tens in the Den
You need:
- counters in 2 colors
- den (use our page or a circle of paper)
- tell students: the den is quiet and dark, so close your eyes and scoop a small handful of counters from the dish
- put your counters in your den
- pink are worth 10 and green are worth 1, find the total
- students work towards finding the total of their den and can record their work on their math journal or on a whiteboard
Here the student has made 24.
If you have students not ready for place value work you can play with a dice and have them build a set of ten. They roll and take single cubes from a dish until they reach ten and then trade for a ten block.
I hope your learners have fun finding the tens in the den!