Engaging Small Group Math Activity: Building Number Understanding with Cubes and Cards
As we head into a new week, I wanted to share a fun and interactive small group math activity that you can use with your students on Monday. If you’ve recently worked on 1:1 correspondence with counting and dots, this activity will be a great follow-up to reinforce those concepts and introduce new ones in an engaging way.
Activity Overview:
The goal of this activity is to deepen students’ understanding of numbers by using connecting cubes to build a staircase and then reinforcing their learning with Cute Cube place value cards. Here’s how it goes:
Objective:
- Students will grasp the concept that items in a group can be numbered.
- They’ll practice counting and ordering groups up to 9 items.
- Students will learn that the last number they say gives the total number of items in a group.
- They will understand that adding one more to a group forms the ‘next’ number.
Materials:
- Connecting cubes (in various colors if possible)
- Cute Cube printable place value cards (1-10)
- 100 chart (large format)
- Containers or trays for organizing cubes
- Small bins for each student to hold their materials
Activity 1:
Building the Cube Staircase (20-25 minutes)
- Introduction: Start by discussing the concept of counting and numbers. You might ask questions like “How many fingers do you have?” or “What happens if we add one more?”
- Building the Staircase: Distribute connecting cubes to the students.
- Step 1: Have each student build a tower with 1 cube.
- Step 2: Next, add 2 cubes to build the next tower, placing it next to the first one.
- Step 3: Continue with 3 cubes, then 4, and finally 5 cubes to complete the staircase pattern.
- Encourage students to count the cubes aloud as they build each tower and touch each cube to reinforce 1:1 correspondence.
Counting and Discussion:
Once all the towers are built, count each one together as a group. You might say, “Let’s count these towers to see how many we have!”
Discuss how each successive tower has more cubes than the previous one. Ask questions like “How many cubes are in this tower?” and “What happens if we add one more?”
Activity 2:
Lay out the 100 chart on a flat surface and spread the Cute Cube printable place value cards (1-10) around the play area.
Playing the Game:
- Students take turns picking a card and building a staircase with that many cubes. Start with 1, then 2 and so on.
- Place the selected card in the corresponding spot on the 100 chart as each staircase is completed.
- Ensure that students count the cubes and cards aloud, connecting the number on the card to the quantity of cubes.
Consolidation:
Review the staircases and numbers together. Point to each tower and card, confirming the sequence and number of cubes.
Closure (5-10 minutes):
Fun Finish Activity:
- Cover the 100 chart and staircases, then have students close their eyes.
- Scramble the numbers on the staircase and uncover the chart.
- Choose a student to reorder the numbers from 1 to 10 on the staircase.
- Celebrate their success and discuss what the numbers represent.
Reflection:
Ask students what they learned about counting and numbers. Let them share their favorite parts of the activity.
Follow-Up:
Leave the Cute Cube place value cards and connecting cubes in the morning bins for the week. Encourage students to repeat the staircase activity or arrange the cards in different ways to explore how numbers connect and form larger quantities.
This activity is a fantastic way to build on what your students have already learned and give them hands-on practice with counting and number sequences. Plus, it's interactive and fun, which always makes learning more enjoyable!
I hope you find this activity helpful for your small groups. Let me know how it goes or if you have any other ideas to share!
This activity is a fantastic way to build on what your students have already learned and give them hands-on practice with counting and number sequences. Plus, it's interactive and fun, which always makes learning more enjoyable!
I hope you find this activity helpful for your small groups. Let me know how it goes or if you have any other ideas to share!