Hands-On Math Activities for Your First Grader
As kids start to expand their math skills, it’s important to reinforce learning with practice at every opportunity. That doesn’t mean relying on worksheets and flashcards, though. Instead, try to find ways to make math learning engaging and meaningful. These hands-on math activities for your first grader are a great way to start!
Put Together Number Chart Puzzles
First graders should be working with numbers up to at least 120, and a 120 chart is a terrific tool. Print one out and cut it into different puzzle-piece type sections like the ones shown here from Playdough to Plato. Then have your child assemble it correctly. You can make lots of versions of this puzzle, with bigger or smaller pieces to vary the challenge.
Bonus Activity Idea: There’s plenty more you can do with these charts. Create a blank one and race to see how quickly your first grader can fill it in. Give your child a chart with some boxes left blank, and have them supply the missing numbers. For even more fun, try this idea from Teach Junkie for a Battleship-style game!
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Make a Domino Addition Track
Dominoes make terrific manipulatives to use in hands-on math activities with your first grader. Learn how to draw your own Domino Addition Track from Days With Grey. Then, have your child search for dominoes on which the total number adds up to the one shown in each box. To build math facts fluency, encourage them to complete the track a little faster each time.
Bonus Activity Idea: While you’ve got the dominoes out, use them to explore number bonds like Lessons 4 Little Ones does. Or, lay dominoes out sideways, and have kids write the equation they represent. You can use them for addition or subtraction practice.
Smash Playdough to Practice Subtraction
Grab this free printable from 123Homeschool4Me and pull out your playdough stash. Your first grader will love rolling balls of dough to fill the 10 frame, then smashing them as they work on subtraction. They’ll also work on laying out equations and writing numerals, all while getting some fine motor skills practice.
Bonus Activity Idea: Take a cue from The Educators’ Spin on It and use the playdough to make numbers and symbols, then turn those into addition and subtraction equations. Or, roll out a big piece of playdough and press equations into it using number stamps.
Play War to Work On Place Value and Comparing Numbers
The classic card game of War is really just some sneaky math in disguise! In this version from Aussie Pumpkin Patch, kids use UNO cards to play. Flip two cards from your deck and arrange them into the tens and ones spots. The player with the highest overall number wins that round and takes all the cards. You can expand this game for hundreds and thousands spots as kids advance.
Bonus Activity Idea: Go on a place value scavenger hunt with free printables from Primary Theme Park. Search through magazines or newspapers to find numbers that fit clues like “a 3 in the tens place” or “a 9 in the hundreds place.” This is a fun game to play on the go, too, using it more like a game of I Spy: “I spy a number with 7 in the ones place.”
Match Eggs to Tell Time
Plastic eggs are incredible DIY materials when creating hands-on math activities for your first grader. In this example from The STEM Laboratory, kids match egg halves to practice telling time. First grade students should be learning to tell time by the hour and half-hour, and to recognize the time on a digital or analog clock.
Bonus Activity Idea: Telling time is one of those activities that some kids really struggle to master. Be sure your home includes both digital and analog clocks (the kind with hands that go around), including in your child’s bedroom, and practice using them regularly. Another classic activity is making a clock from a paper plate. This double-layer model from Kids Activities Blog provides flaps kids can flip to check their skills.
Use Coin Sticks for Money Skills
First graders should learn the various coins and bills we use for money. Whether you use real money or plastic coins, these clever sticks from Kinderdi keep them from rolling around the room! Glue the coins to the stick (or use a non-permanent adhesive like double-sided tape), then have your child draw one at random. Ask them to name the coins they see, then figure out the total value of the stick. (You can write the answers on the back so kids can practice on their own.)
Bonus Activity Idea: In a world where cash is becoming increasingly less common, take any opportunity to expose kids to bills and coins so they’ll become familiar with them. If kids are saving up for something fun, make this smart self-sorting bank from The Owner Builder Network (a cool STEM project!). Keep a tally of what they’ve deposited on a piece of paper or board nearby, giving them more hands-on practice with money.
Compose Shapes With Pattern Blocks
First graders are mastering more complicated shapes and patterns, and pattern blocks are a must-have tool at this age. Challenge little ones to build different sizes of triangles using a variety of these blocks, like Miss Giraffe’s Class does. You can also make squares, rectangles, and other shapes.
Bonus Activity Idea: Kids this age should start learning 3-D shapes too, and one of the most fun ways to do that is with drinking straws and marshmallows! This introduces the idea of lines and vertices. Learn more about this activity from Teaching Ideas for Those Who Love Teaching.
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