Are you looking for a way to make Numbers, Counting and Place Value come alive for your kids this year?! Me too!
Last year I created a 100’s chart, which hangs on our kitchen wall. And we have spent a lot of time counting and skip counting with it, and using whiteboard markers to mark it up to help us solve math problems. You can download a copy of it here. It has been a really helpful and fun tool.
But it hasn’t helped us get a solid grasp on Place Value. For example if the question is ‘Jane has 23 cents and Allen has 10 cents more, how much does Allen have?’ She will write out the equation or count up 10 either on her fingers or with the numbers chart. Which is not wrong, and she gets to the right answer. But even when she lands on the right answer she doesn’t seem to notice that the ones place stayed the same.
So I wanted to do something this year to help us make this connection with numbers. After some searching the internet, I found Place Value Charts!
My house isn’t fancy or styled, it’s cozy and small! Like 1000 square feet for our family of 6, so its not like it would only hang in the homeschool space, the homeschool is our kitchen and main living space. And the Place Value charts I was finding on Amazon were ugly, I even looked on Target and Etsy and didn’t find anything. So as usual, I decided to put together my own. It probably ended up costing $20 as opposed to $12.
DIY Place Value Chart
- Magnetic Pen Holder (I tried some from Target but the magnets were not nearly as strong as this one)
- Straws (I got them at Walmart because I liked the colors)
- Magnetic Clips like these (We have had ours for years, so I am not sure where they came from.)
- Printable Number Cards
- Small White Board (we also have a little magnetic whiteboard from the dollar store that we update with the date)
Count the first 100 days of school
I am planning to use this to count the first 100 days of school. So far we are only 19 days in, knock on wood, but this has been a really fun way to start our morning routine. And it doesn’t feel like math or learning! Plus it was affordable and didn’t create an eyesore in my kitchen! All wins!
Base Ten Blocks
Another great manipulative to help cement Place Value is Base Ten blocks. I don’t know why I hesitate to purchase these for so long. I have put them out for the kids to play with, and they have enjoyed building with them and using them for math help. It is nice to have something that is tangible, especially when working through some of these word problems.
We went with this set. It is nice because it is durable plastic and it comes in a sturdy cardboard box that is nice for storage.
