Number Sense

One to one correspondence must be in place in kindergarten for a child to continue to manipulate numbers and understand other mathematical concepts. One to one is simply being able to touch one object for each number that is counted aloud. By this point, most of our kids have a good grasp of this concept, so we take it a step further by using numbers 1-25 and using different materials.

I found myself doing 2 good number sense activities in a week and quickly took some pictures to share.

The pipe cleaner activity above was inspired by one I saw on ABC and 123 (I couldn't find the original post - sorry!) and it worked out so well.  We made masking tape number flags and then the kids strung that many beads onto the pipe cleaner.

Here is what the table looked like in action.  I filled little bowls with beads and provided number charts for those who were having trouble with numbers past 10.

As they completed a number, a teacher could easily check to see if the concept was in place.  We are already thinking about how we can use these again when we begin addition.

Egg carton math is always a favorite.  Write random numbers from 1-12 in the bottom of an egg carton and the kids fill up the little egg holders with the correct number of counters.  The challenge for this activity is remembering your number as you fill it up because they get covered up quickly.

Here is the table in action.  I always have a few extra egg cartons so the kids can empty one carton and go to another one.

If you have a good one-to-one correspondence or number sense activity, I'd love to hear about it!