Math Manipulatives for Preschool
Math manipulatives are an important tool for teaching math to preschoolers. They provide a hands-on way to explore math concepts. There are so many awesome math manipulatives out there. I like to use them when I’m teaching math lessons and or use them in centers. Math manipulatives can be something simple, like cotton balls, or you can get higher-quality ones from stores like Lakeshore Learning or Learning Resources.
Today I’m sharing my top math manipulatives for preschoolers. These are the ones I’ve used and think are the most effective.
Counting Bears
So much learning can happen with these little bears! You can use them to sort, count, make patterns, and even for dramatic play! They are also great for teaching beginning addition or subtraction.
There are so many counting bears to choose from. We like the classic counting bear set. They also have a family bear set, which includes three different sizes of bears.
Math Link Cubes
We are also big fans of math link cubes! (Also known as Unifix™ cubes.) These are awesome for counting, sorting by color, making patterns, and simple addition or subtraction. I also love that these work on fine motor skills when you snap them together.
Ten Frame Manipulatives
Learning about ten frames (and even five frames!) is important for preschoolers. Having math manipulatives for this is so helpful!
I love this magnetic ten frame because you can use it while teaching a class without the counters falling off.
Pattern Blocks
These colorful shapes are great for making patterns, learning about shapes, sorting by color or other attributes, and making designs with shapes. There are really quite a few ways to use these pattern blocks!
Mini Erasers
Do you ever see those mini erasers in the Target dollar section? These are fabulous for math! You can use them for counting, practicing one-to-one correspondence, sorting, making patterns, ten frames, and more!
You can also find mini erasers on Amazon, but I usually just pick them up from Target.
Foam Dice
You can use dice for so many math activities! I love foam dice because they are soft, which means they are quiet! (All the teachers say hallelujah!!)
Using dice for games helps kids with subitizing (knowing what the dots are without counting every dot each time), counting, adding, subtracting, comparing, and more!
What other math manipulatives do you love?
For just a few days, enter to win one of these math manipulatives!
Pattern blocks are our first choice. So much fun to use! Again, thank you for the opportunity to win.
All of these are great! We love using bears, and dice.
I would like to win the pattern blocks! Kids can get so creative with them, using them for math, literacy, building, problem solving, almost everything!
I absolutely love all these items!! They would make schooling so much easier!
There are so many fun math skills to use with the mini eraser!
These are all great! We love using pattern blocks and we have regular dice. But I really love the idea of foam dice! Those mini erasers are so cute!
I love the ten frames! These are so useful for my students to have a concrete understanding of composing and decomposing numbers and is an excellent way for me to visually teach the early framework for place value!
The pattern blocks would be most beneficial to me…..and fun!!!
I would LOVE to win the mini erasers.
While each manipulative mentioned above has its merits, I would likely say unifix cubes or “snap cubes” are one of my favorites. They’re colorful, they can be used to “trace” a shape or a fine motor tracing line, they can be built upon each other, and they appeal to boys and girls.