K-5 Math Manipulatives

These are broad recommendations based what I have personally used both in the classroom and at home with my kids. If you would like a more detailed recommendation for your child, contact me for a 30 minute individualized zoom consultation with follow up book recommendations.

My motto? Keep it simple. No need to get over the top with the math manipulatives. We try to use what we have at home, but here are a few tried and true tools that I HIGHLY recommend to help transfer abstract mathematical concepts to tangible, manipulative tools.

1. Base Ten Block Kit— these are invaluable. I use them when introducing the concept of “Tens”.

2. Rekenrek Counters (set of four small ones)—These are great because they fit in a pencil box. They count up to 20, with two rows of ten. Great for building missing addends, doubles, near doubles and plain old counting.

3. Learning Clock- Clock concepts can be abstract and hard to grasp. We always have our learning clock out during clock activities. Make sure your clock has dashes for the minutes to help with the concept of counting by 5.

4. Tanagram pieces- First of all, we love playing with these. They’re a standard size and you can Pinterest your heart out for fun activities to do with them. They also show up in Saxon Math.

5. Need a complete set of manipulatives to show up? Saxon math provides a kit with all you need. No planning necessary—it is used for the Kindergarten-Third curriculum.