Number Sense Teaching Resources
Browse printable worksheets, hands-on math center activities and more teaching resources designed to teach number sense in the elementary classroom.
Developing number sense is an important building block for elementary math students and unlocks a deeper understanding of numbers and their relationships. Aligned with Common Core, each worksheet, game and century activity was created by teachers with teachers — and students — in mind to help build those skills in ways that engage and excite students about numbers!
Want to learn more about number sense? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a definition of number sense, how to assess this important math skill and more!
What Is Number Sense?
In the most basic sense (no pun intended), number sense refers to a student's intuitive understanding of numbers and their relationships. It includes the ability to estimate and compare quantities, understand numerical patterns and relationships and make reasonable judgments about the accuracy of calculations.
When students show an understanding of numbers, their size, relationships, and how they are affected by the four mathematical operations, what they're really showing is their number sense.
In an educational setting, building number sense is closely related to other foundational skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking and logical reasoning. As our students get older, it will become a crucial skill for daily life they will use to manage finances, calculate time and make decisions based on numerical information.
Teach Starter Teacher Tip: Although the names may seem interchangeable, it's worth noting that number sense is not the same as mathematical fluency or memorization of algorithms, but rather a deep understanding of the underlying concepts and relationships between numbers.
When Does Number Sense Develop?
There is no one grade level when we're teaching students number sense — instead, it continues to develop and become more sophisticated as students progress through elementary school.
Research suggests that babies as young as 6 months old can distinguish between small and large numbers of objects, and by preschool, students are already working on number sense as they begin to learn counting and one-to-one correspondence. At this level, they're also beginning to develop an understanding of quantity and relative size — both key to overall number sense.
Number sense will continue to grow in elementary school as students become more adept at recognizing and using numbers to solve problems, and it continues into high school and — for many students — into college.
Assessing Number Sense
When we assess students for their number sense skills, there are certain mathematical concepts that they should have under their belts. These include:
- Ability to Recognize Missing Numbers in a Pattern —When kids can fill in missing numbers in a sequence, they're showing that they can make connections between numbers and develop an understanding of the relationships between them.
- Ability to Use Mental Math — Students with number sense can use mental math to solve problems involving the four basic operations.
- Ability to Engage in Systematic Counting — Children who can count systematically can more easily understand the relationships between numbers, including number magnitude, patterns, and sequences.
- Ability to Subitize Numbers — Students can use visual clustering skills to instantly recognize how many objects are in a group without physically counting them.
- Ability to Relate Numbers to Real-World Problems —For example, a student may understand that "3" means "three objects" or "three days" or "three dollars."
- Ability to Compose and Decompose Numbers — Students use number sense when they break down numbers and put them back together. For example, a student who can break down the number 10 into 8 and 2, then add the two back together to again make 10, is using number sense.
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Counting to 100 — Dot Day Worksheet
Celebrate International Dot Day with this fun, hands-on way to learn how to count to 100 using ten frames.
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Kindergarten Morning Work (August)
Practice foundational math and language arts skills during the month of August with this collection of 23 kindergarten morning work worksheets.
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I Have Who Has - Numbers 1-20
Practice identifying numbers 1–20 with this set of “I Have, Who Has” game cards.
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Rolling to 100 Board Game
Practice counting to 100 by 1's with this interactive hundreds chart board game for multiple players.
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Ten Frame Mats (Single and Double)
A ten frame mat and a double ten frame mat to use in a variety of ways.
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Representations of Numbers 1-10 Flashcards
A set of flashcards showing various representations of numbers from 1-10.
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Hundreds Chart Mystery Picture Task Cards
Practice identifying numbers 1-100 with this set of 32 mystery picture task cards.
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Valentine's Day Hundreds Chart Mystery Pictures
Follow the color-coded number guides to fill in the hundreds chart square and reveal 9 special Valentine’s Day images.
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How Many Are There? Counting to 20 Task Cards
Practice counting objects up to 20 with this set of 16 task cards.
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6-Digit Number of the Day Worksheet
A 6-digit place value worksheet to represent the number of the day in different ways.
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Cover Up! - Subitizing Numbers Game
Help students instantly recognize numbers 1-6 with this multiplayer Valentine’s Day board game.
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Jungle Number Hunt – Identifying Numbers 1–9
A fun way for students to practice identifying the digits 1 to 9.
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Counting to 20 - Worksheet
A worksheet to practice one-to-one correspondence.
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Number Word Search with Solution - 3
A number search to help your students to learn place value.
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Number Wordsearch with Solution - 2
A number search to help your students to learn place value.
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Tracing Numbers 0-20
Practice writing numbers 0–20 with this tracing activity.
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10-20 Digit Cards
A set of flashcards, including the numbers 10-20, to be used when teaching numbers and place value.
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How Many Eyes? - Alien Counting Worksheet
A worksheet to practice one-to-one correspondence.
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Writing Numbers 0-10 - Poster
A poster for students to reference when learning how to write the numbers 0–10.
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Numbers 1-30 Posters - Tallies, Tens Frames, and Base-10 Blocks
Posters showing numbers 1-30 with associated images.
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100 Days of School Activity Book
A fun booklet of activities for students to complete on their 100th day of school.
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0–30 in Numbers and Words - Posters
Posters showing 0–30 in standard and word form.
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Subitizing Dice - Numbers 1 to 9
Subitizing is the process of immediately recognizing how many items are in a small group.
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Subitizing Small Collections PowerPoint
An interactive, 34-slide editable PowerPoint presentation to use when teaching students to subitize.
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Jellyfish Count to 10 Matchup Activity
Use this match-up activity to help reinforce your students’ knowledge of one-to-one correspondence to 10.
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Ice Cream Counting Game
Help students practice their knowledge of counting numbers 1-20 with this fun ice cream matching game.
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Christmas Math Puzzle - Counting to 10
Count groups up to 10 with a printable Christmas math puzzle.
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Thanksgiving Color-By-Number for Kindergarten - Counting
Count sets of objects up to ten with a printable Thanksgiving Color by Number Worksheet for Kindergarten.
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Halloween Counting to 10 Worksheets
Count, write, and match numbers and objects with printable Halloween counting worksheets.
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Counting Clip Cards - Fire Safety
Practice counting objects with a set of 18 fire-themed counting clip cards.
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Halloween Number-Word Matching Worksheet
Match numbers and number words with a pack of Halloween printable math worksheets for kindergarten.
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Halloween Tracing Numbers Worksheets
Trace and write numbers to twenty with a set of spooky Halloween tracing numbers worksheets.