Counting to Five Math Kit Cards: 5 Fresh Ways to Play and Learn
If you’ve been using the Counting to Five Math Activity Cards from Math Kit Bundle 1, you already know how handy they are for small group lessons, centers, or quick interventions. But did you know you don’t have to cut them apart?Keeping the page whole gives you a large play mat of five 5-frames—that’s 25 spaces in one sheet. This simple shift saves prep time and also opens the door to rich math conversations about how groups of five connect. Sometimes you may choose to point this out, but often it’s just as powerful to let students notice patterns on their own. As always, use your teacher judgment to decide what best fits the moment and your students’ learning goals.
Here are five versatile ways to use the full-page mat with your students:
1. Building 1:1 Counting Confidence
For students still developing one-to-one correspondence, start by modeling how to count dots across a frame—left to right, one by one. Then, call out a number and have students place that many counters on a frame. Use the happy face version of the cards for an extra layer of fun: count classmates, chairs, or even stickers before moving to counters.2. Exploring “One More Than”
Using the plain mat, model a number on your teacher mat. Have students count it with you and then build the same number plus one more on their own mat. Example: you show 3, they make 4. This builds number sense and helps students practice addition in a concrete way.3. Math Story Solvers
Turn the mats into a stage for mini story problems. Example: “I planted 3 pink seeds and 2 orange seeds. How many seeds altogether?” Students model your story with counters on the colored frames, listen for math language, and discover the total.4. Subtraction Stories with 25
Fill every space on the mat with counters to make 25. Then tell subtraction stories where students remove counters and transfer them to a blank mat. Example: “I ate 11 apples. How many are left?” This lets students see subtraction as both “taking away” and “finding the difference,” deepening flexible thinking.5. Dice + Columns for Addition Strategies
Turn the mat sideways (landscape). Roll 5 dice and place one above each column. Students build each number with counters and then record the equation: 3+1+5+1+4. Encourage grouping strategies: “4+1 makes 5. 3+1 makes 4. So now it’s 5+5+4.” This bridges concrete counters with mental math strategies.
Remember: you may not use all of these ideas at once, but having them in your toolkit lets you scaffold up or down depending on your group. Early counting skills may look “simple,” but they are the foundation for everything that follows.
And while your students are practicing counting, don’t miss this week’s extras in the Pond Coloring Club and Happy Face Door Welcome Signs—perfect for adding color, creativity, and joy to your classroom!
