When it comes to teaching kids hands-on is the way to go. They respond better to hand on learning experiences. Simply adding tactile tools can make learning basic math a breeze and it doesn’t end with math.
Even letters, reading and spelling can be taught better with hands on manipulatives. We have been enjoying the amazing benefits of manipulatives for kids.
Benefits of Manipulatives for kids
We fell in love with manth manipulatives while working with our older kids in preschool. numbers while they can be memorized are an abstract concept that can be hard for young minds to grasp and understand.
Build your child’s attention span
Hands-on active learning is easier for keeping the attention of children with attention span issues. This means it’s the perfect method for working with our preschoolers and our ADHD children. I am forever amazed at how much better the children learn when we get hands-on.
Better memory retention
When you tell someone something they don’t often grasp it. A major advantage of using manipulatives for teaching kids is that they can experience learning hands-on rather than just listening to you explain how it is done. This is an amazing tool for math and spelling that every parent and educator should be taking advantage of.
Develop fine motor skills
Fine motor skills are essential to building hand-eye coordination to write and perform other small precise tasks. Using math manipulatives is a great way to work on building fine motor skills while they work on basic math skills.
Help make math relatable
Math is an abstract concept and it can be a real struggle for kids to learn to associate numbers with reality. When you use math manipulatives you take math off the paper and bring it to life so your child can make concrete connections to what numbers really mean.
Math Manipulatives to use with your child
Take your lessons outside
Using nature including flowers, leaves, sticks, and rocks is a great way to learn math in a fun and interactive way. This is by far one of the best options for math manipulaitves you can possibly use and they don’t cost a thing.
Geoboards
If you want a fun manth manipulative for teaching geomotry to your child that can also double as a fine mortor activity, as well as an addtion and subtraction tool you can not go wrong with a classic geoboard and some rubber bands.
Counting bears and scale
Counting bears are by far a favorite math manipulaitive for kids. Investing in a set that has a scale gives you the operutinity to use them for teaching balance, wight, volume, and other abstract concepts in a way that your students can grasp.
Counting Cubes
Counting cubes have alwyas been a favorite for kids. This is beacuse these simple cubes can be sued for solving all sorts of basic math problems from addtion and subtraction to multiplcation and devision.
Like with games that teach math counting cubes can be very entertaining for kids helping both with focus and tactile stimulation.
My youngest especially loves having manipulatives for school but also just for playing. He can be so creative with so little instruction. My older ones who have outgrown them are often drawn back to them along with him.
Mine love them for math, counting and just playing. Would love to win some new ones to use for new things and reenforcing the old.
Thanks for the chance to win and for your blog.
We don’t have any but I can see my don enjoying them for counting and pretending, since he does that with other toys.
These would make some very happy children. We use manipulatives for everything.
I’ve never used them before, but would like to try some ideas from their site 🙂
I like to incorporate them into fun learning activities by creating games and competitions using them.
We like to incorporate them into fun learning activities. They’re great for making sense of basic lessons, and we can create competitions using them.
I love using manipulatives to teach my autistic son about number, color, and pretend play
Thank You
I love using manipulatives to teach my autistic son about number, color, and pretend play
Thank You for the chance!
We use them many ways – to learn to count, for math principles and sometimes just for fun!!
I work with many preschoolers as a school psychologist, and I am always looking for new and fun manipulative for counting, color recognition, and sorting
i really find manipulatives useful for negative numbers… its hard to make it real!