Number sense is a must for kids to learn at a young age. Seeing and recognizing numbers and objects as they relate to an amount or quantity builds their number fluency and sets the foundation for number recognition in higher grades.
That’s where these Stopwatch Number Sense pages for numbers 1-10 come in handy! They’re great for reinforcing the different ways numbers can be represented.
In kindergarten numbers can be represented by tally marks, objects, dice, dominoes, base ten block, and so much more. On my Stopwatch Number Sense pages kids represent numbers 1-10 by:
- making tally marks
- filling in a ten frame
- circling the stars
- drawing dots on a dice
- drawing dots on dominoes
- circling or coloring in snap cubes
- writing the number word
It’s understandable that kids will have to have some background and practice at these skills before they are able to fill in these Stopwatch Number Sense pages. If you’d like some resources to help your kids practice these skills take a look at my subitizing cards. They’re flash cards with numbers 1-10 represented in these different forms.
Once your kids have a fairly good handle on numbers and how they’re represented you can have them try their hand at these Stopwatch Number Sense pages.
They come in black and white for use as worksheets or you can print on white card stock and laminate. These work great for a math center or whole group instruction.
These number sense pages were created to be a timed, fun activity for friendly competition, but they can also be used for number sense practice and for assessments.
Number Sense Practice
These number sense pages are great for number of the day or number of the week!
I’d recommend using the black and white pages as worksheets. Your kids can use pencils, but you can spice things up a little bit and provide some variety by letting them use colored pencils or markers. When they’re done filling in the different sections, encourage them to make a border around the number or write on top of the number in different colors.
If you’d like a more durable way to practice use them as write and wipe boards. Print the black and white pages on colored card stock (maybe a different color for each number!), laminate, pull out your dry erase markers and you’re ready to go!
Use in Small Groups or Whole Group
So here’s my suggestion for how to use them. Practice the same number at the same time, for example number 3 or number 7. In a math center or for whole class use, hand out either a worksheet and pencils and erasers or color laminated copies, dry erase markers and an eraser (or tissue) to all your kids.
Go through the page item by item filling in the page together. Tally marks first, then the ten frames, circle the stars, etc.
When it comes to the dice and the dominoes, make it a rule that the kids have to fill in two different combinations of the number. For example, if you’re doing a page for the number seven, they can use one and six dots for the dice and three and four dots for the dominoes.
Remind the kids that dice have only up to six dots so six is the limit per dice. Dominoes however, most often have up to six dots on each half, but there are sets of dominoes that have more dots than six dots so you can make up your own rules on that. Larger numbers allowed would give kids the opportunity to make more combinations, like seven and zero.
Decide how you’d like your kids to tackle the snap cubes. Your kids can count them out and circle them one by one, two sets of numbers, circle a bunch together, or they can color them in. You can have all your kids do it the same way or let them have some personal choice and do whichever way is more comfortable for them.
Lastly, your kids would need to write the number word. This may be a bit of a challenge for younger kids so you might want to have some options. You can provide a flash card with the number word in a pocket chart, have a flash card with the number word on hand, or have the number word written on a white board for reference. Take your time and practice, practice, practice if needed. Writing and wiping several times over is not a problem as, in my experience, kids love to do this!
Once you feel your kids have got a firm understanding of these number representations and practice filling in the number sense pages you can have some friendly competitions!
Number Sense Friendly Competition
Pull out your stopwatch (or your phone’s stopwatch) and introduce a little friendly competition (emphasis on friendly)! I would suggest that these competitions take place in small group settings.
(picture of a stopwatch and a phone stopwatch)
Now for these competitions I would definitely use either the color version of the Stopwatch Number Sense pages printed on white card stock or the black and white version, either printed on white or color card stock, and laminated. If kids are trying to go fast they may rip or tear a plain piece of paper so a laminated version may prove to be more durable.
Make Sure the Rules Are Clear
Tally marks, dots, circles, etc. have to be clear and legible so there’s no questions about the amounts or quantity circled or written. They have their markers ready and can start only after you say, “GO!”. You decide if erasures can be allowed and mistakes corrected while the timer is running.
Have the kids make a clear strategy for how they’re going to fill out the page. Top to bottom, left column to right column is the best way. Sometimes kids may want to fill in the parts they find easier first, but if they fill in a bottom section before a top section they may smear the bottom section with their hand, thereby making it illegible.
When kids are done they shout, “DONE” and drop their markers. When the first child shouts “DONE” the kids that haven’t finished keep working until they’re done.
Rev your kids’ engines and wave the green flag by saying, “Markers in hand, get ready, get set, “GO!”
When the first child shouts, “DONE!” you immediately stop the stopwatch. Check the time and write it down. This becomes the time for everyone to try to beat. It even becomes the time for the first child to beat and best their own time. Also check their board to make sure it was filled in correctly and legibly.
This is also a good lesson in sportsmanship. Make sure the winner is congratulated and the other students are good losers.
Why stop at one friendly competition? Maybe you’ll want to take the best of three or more times. Keep the first winner in or let them sit the next round(s) out, possibly giving other kids a chance to win.
Number Sense Personal Best Times
You can also time your kids one at a time without any competition. For some kids this works best. No matter how fast or slow they work, you can still lavish them with all kinds of congratulatory and kind words.
For kids that are home schooled, they can try to best their own time. Time them three times and take the best time out of the three.
Assessments
These Stopwatch Number Sense pages (minus the stopwatch part) can be used as assessments. Use in small groups, whole group or one-on-one. They can give you a good idea of how your kids are doing and where you might need focus some of your teaching time.
Hope you and your kids enjoy these Stopwatch Number Sense pages whether you use them for number sense practice, friendly competition, or as assessments!
Stopwatch Number Sense for Numbers 1-10
