The newest additions to Math Kit Bundle 3 have been designed with exactly that in mind. Each activity invites children to explore numbers in different ways while giving teachers flexible opportunities to adapt learning to meet a wide range of student needs.
If you're not familiar with it yet, Math Kit Bundle 3 is a growing collection of hands-on math resources. The bundle already includes 10 activity packs, and every future addition is included when you purchase the bundle today. It's designed to provide versatile tools that can be used across whole-group lessons, small-group instruction, independent exploration, intervention settings, and math centers.
Why Small-Group Math Matters
Small-group instruction creates opportunities for valuable mathematical conversations. Rather than focusing solely on getting the right answer, teachers can listen closely to student thinking, introduce new mathematical vocabulary, and encourage children to explain their ideas.Simple storytelling can be a powerful tool in these moments.
When students hear a story about watermelon seeds growing inside a fruit, frogs hopping onto a log, or a hare climbing stairs, they begin connecting numbers to meaningful situations. Stories give context to mathematical ideas and help children understand that numbers represent real quantities and experiences.
Providing manipulatives alongside these stories makes learning even more powerful. Students can move objects, count, compare, rearrange, and discuss their thinking while developing deeper conceptual understanding.
Watermelon Numbers 🍉
Watermelon Numbers combines storytelling, counting, and hands-on learning in a way that feels natural and engaging for young learners.Invite students to explore photographs or books featuring watermelon plants, vines, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Talk about how watermelons grow and wonder together about how many seeds might be inside.
Students can then use the play mats to count and place watermelon seeds while listening to and using mathematical language. As they connect spoken number words, one-to-one counting, physical objects, and numerals, they are building strong foundations for number sense.
The activity naturally encourages mathematical conversations:
- How many seeds are there?
- What happens if we add one more?
- Which watermelon has more seeds?
- Which has fewer?
Hare Stair 🐰
Hare Stair is a playful companion to Bear's Stairs and offers a fresh way to explore counting sequences and number patterns.This activity works beautifully when combined with movement. Students can jump, hop, stomp, or clap as they count from 1 to 20 before matching their counting to the staircase visual.
Movement supports engagement and helps many learners internalise counting patterns more effectively. When children move their bodies while counting, they are often better able to maintain one-to-one correspondence and develop fluency with number sequences.
Teachers can also use Hare Stair to explore:
- Counting forwards and backwards
- Starting from different numbers
- Comparing numbers
- Identifying missing numbers
Frog on a Log 🐸
Frog on a Log introduces students to an important mathematical idea: numbers can be partitioned in different ways while remaining the same quantity.Students move frogs onto a number line and explore different combinations that make the same total. Through play, they begin to develop an understanding of part-part-whole relationships and early addition concepts.
For example, students may discover that 10 can be made with 6 and 4, 5 and 5, or 3 and 7. The quantity remains the same even though the arrangement changes.
The included spinner adds another layer of engagement and encourages repeated practice as students build numbers to 10 or 20 using different combinations.
These experiences help students move beyond rote counting and begin developing flexible number thinking.
Growing Mathematical Thinkers
Whether students are counting watermelon seeds, hopping up number stairs, or building combinations with frogs on a log, they are developing far more than counting skills.They are learning to connect language, symbols, quantities, actions, and ideas. They are building the conceptual understanding that supports future success in mathematics.
And best of all, they're doing it through play, curiosity, movement, and meaningful mathematical conversations.
You can find all three resources in my store, and they're also included in the ever-growing Math Kit Bundle 3, where every future addition is yours when you purchase the bundle today.
Happy teaching! 💚