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Exploring
Early number
activities,
blackline masters
& assessment pages
that are fun and
easy to use
Bev Dunbar
N U M B E R
L O W E R
P R I M A R Y
1
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Introduction
EXPLORING 1-5
At last! Here are over 100 fun, easy-to-use and easy-to-understand early
number activities, with sample programs, blackline masters and
assessment pages to make your teaching life easier! All exploring just
the numbers from 1-5!
The resources for each number include flashcards and original rhymes
followed by a variety of exciting, practical activities for the whole class,
groups, pairs or individuals.
By exploring each number for a week at a time, as shown in the sample
program, you will be able to cater for at least three ability groups, with
plenty to challenge all your students. And the wide range of activities
means that every number is treated in a different way. You’ll never run out
of ideas again!
As intelligent, fun-loving, active five year olds, your students probably know
the basic ideas, but could further develop their understanding of each
number through games, activities and social interaction with their friends.
Through problem-solving and working with others, your students will learn
to inquire and estimate, see patterns and relationships and use
different strategies.
This is Book 1 in the three volume Early Number Kit. Together with the
other two books, “Exploring 6-10” and “Number Games and Activities
for 0-10”, you will have a complete teaching resource for numbers to 10.
In fact, there are more than enough number ideas here to keep both you
and your students keen and motivated year after year.
And if you think this book, Exploring 1-5, is useful, then why not collect the
next two books as well!
Copyright © Bev Dunbar MATHS Matters 1999.
Reprinted 2006, 2008
Exploring 1 - 5 ISBN 978 -1-86509-211-9
Early Number Kit ISBN 978-1-86509-210-2
Published by Blake Education
Locked Bag 2022
Glebe NSW 2037
Printed by Green Giant Press
Illustration and design by Janice Bowles
The blackline masters in this book may be reproduced
by the original purchaser for use with their class(es) only.
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Page 1
Contents
How to use this book
2
General resources
3
Exploring 1
10
Exploring 2
29
Exploring 3
42
Exploring 4
60
Exploring 5
73
Assessment
86
Sample programs
90
Index
94
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How to use the activities
Each number unit from 1-5 is explored through 20 or more
suggested activities.
The overall objective is to develop knowledge, skills and
understandings for the numbers 1 - 5 in a variety of fun,
child-centred ways.
The overall outcome for each unit is to estimate, count,
compare, order and represent whole numbers up to 5,
leading eventually to the study all the numbers to 10.
Grouping strategies
This example
shows how easy
it is to use each
activity.
You’ll need
these before
the activity
starts.
Original
counting
rhymes for
each
number.
Examples
related to
each specific
number.
Sorting
N=
Numeration
= pair
P=
Patterning
= small group
C=
Counting
O=
Operations
WM =
Working
= individual
PAIR
= whole class
CLASS
Mathematically
A complete list of Outcome Indicators is provided on p.89 to
help you see how and when this objective has
been reached.
Each activity
includes coded
specific Outcome
Indicators to help
your planning,
programming
and unit
assessment.
S=
ONE
GROUP
ish
Sort the Starf
2,3
O1,4 WM1,
C3 N2,3,6
ONE
e of
into the shap
squares torn
r
(p. 80)
e
pe
pa
ym
rh
ue
g
bl
h ...” countin
M, scissors,
fis
BL
ar
h”
st
y
fis
ik
ar
sp
St
“Sort the
copy of “Five
(2 per child),
“rockpools”
arrange
nt ways to re
plore differe
Do
Ex
.
h?
rts
fis
pa
ar
e
st
th
ol has fewer
n to act out
po
re
Activity A:
ild
ch
pool?
ch
hi
is
e
W
th
fiv
yme. Ask
number in
ol has more?
Recite the rh
odd or even
s. Which po
ol
an
e
po
o
er
th
tw
Is
e
in th
arfish?
the children
number of st
ve the same
they both ha
s can you
different way
How many
n.
d 3 ...) Make
ow
an
r
2
ei
th
4,
s
Activity B:
and 5, 1 and
fish, or draw
0
ar
st
g.
5
(e
t
s?
ou
ol
cuts
rockpo
Each person
h into the 2
t the 5 starfis
partner.
a
ll
Te
.
ns
discover to pu
tio
atch your ac
m
to
y
or
st
up a
Resources:
How to use the sample programs
A special feature in this book is the Sample Yearly Program
for Mathematics (see p.90). This shows you one way
to plan a 40 week teaching year, exploring each
number for a week at a time, as well as fitting in
explorations in Space, Measurement, Chance
and Data.
More specifically, the Sample Weekly Programs
show you how to implement this yearly program
on a Monday to Friday basis, using the activities
with the whole class, groups, pairs or individuals.
• A general example on p.91 shows you how
you could manage rotating groups over the
five days.
• A more specific example, for the number “3”,
on p.92 shows you an alternative way to
organise a selection of activities from
“Exploring 3“ (p. 42-59) as a five day unit.
• A final blank proforma on p.93 can be used to
write your own weekly program based on the examples shown.
2
Exploring 1 - 5
Coded Outcome
Indicators
(see p. 89)
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Getting started
Before you start, it’s a good idea to look around
your room and check you have plenty of
interesting number resources for activity-based
learning. The following suggestions are a
useful guide.
Some of the resources can be purchased from
educational suppliers. Others will be available at local
supermarkets or as “junk” collections from the
students’ homes.
Remember also to think about the right storage
solutions for your room. Inexpensive plastic containers
with strong lids in a variety of sizes can be purchased
from supermarkets and bargain stores.
For use as counters
• bottle tops (home brewing supplies)
• plastic farm animals
• plastic teddy bears
• circle counters
• stick counters
• beads and string for threading
• tubular pasta
• paddle pop sticks
For sorting/counting activities
Small containers labelled 1 -10
• yoghurt or margarine tubs with lids
• matchboxes
• egg cartons
• paper bags
Large containers labelled 1 - 10
• shoeboxes
• icecream containers with lids
Exploring 1 - 5
3
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Writing activities
• A3 paper for class books
• crayons, pencils
• large and small paintbrushes
• tubs of paint with lids
• chalk, small chalkboards
• plasticine, lino squares
• playdough (see recipe below)
General
• dice
• spinners
• 3D wooden shapes with 3,4,5,6, and 8 sides
• sets of dot cards- random, domino pattern,
twos pattern (see p. 5, 8, 9)
• sets of ordinal number cards (see p. 6, 7)
• dominoes
• geostrips, split pins
• geoboards, elastic bands
• DUPLO, multilink blocks
• old magazines
Playdough recipe
(enough for 3 - 6 children)
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
water
1 tablespoon of peanut oil
A few drops of oil of wintergreen (or oil of cloves)
Food colouring
• Mix the flour, salt and oils together in a large
bowl with a small amount of water to make a ball
of dough. Divide the ball into three parts. Add
drops of food colouring and knead in to make
three coloured balls. Store in an airtight container.
4
Exploring 1 - 5
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Exploring 1 - 5 Blake Education Reproducible
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Exploring 1 - 5 Blake Education Reproducible
9
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What comes in ones?
CLASS
S2,3 N3 WM1
Resources:
An orange, a picture of a unicycle, about ten A3 pages stapled into a book.
Activity:
Hold up 1 finger. Shake and wiggle it around. Ask the children
to think of things they know that come in “ones”.
eg.
mum
my nose
my head
wheels on a unicycle
What else comes in ones?
eg.
the sun
the moon
the handset on a telephone
the tail on a lion
Make “Our Book about One” by drawing and labelling some of
these suggestions onto A3 paper.
Body Rhythms
CLASS
P1,2
Activity:
Ask individual children to invent a “ones” body
rhythm pattern for other children to follow.
eg.
clap hands once
hit knees
tap head
stamp feet
Repeat several times saying the words aloud.
eg. “clap, hit, tap, stamp, clap, hit, tap,
stamp, clap, hit, tap, stamp ...”
What is a unicorn?
ONE
WM2 C4
Resources:
A book about a unicorn, “What is a Unicorn” BLM. BLM
Activity:
Discuss the ways different cultures tell their children stories about mythical
creatures. The uniciorn is one of these. It is like a horse with one large horn on
its forehead. Read the class a story about a unicorn. Discuss the fantasy horn as
a special example of “one”. Everyone hold up one hand like a horn on their
head. How many unicorns now?
Written activity:
Children draw their own unicorn as a follow-up to the story. Or they can colour
in a copy of the Unicorn BLM.
14
Exploring 1 - 5 1
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What is a Unicorn?
Blake Education Reproducible 1 Exploring 1 - 5
15
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Guess the dots
CLASS
C3 N2
Resources:
Large random and 2s dot pattern cards (enlarged to A3, see p.8-9).
BLM
Activity:
A quick practice activity to develop estimation skills. Shuffle the dot cards, with
the dots facing towards you, hidden from the class.
Hold up a random card towards the class for about 3 seconds, then hide it
again. Ask the children to guess how many dots they saw. Check by counting.
Repeat, gradually making the viewing time shorter and shorter, until it is only for
1 second.
Make it One
ONE
C3 N4
Resources:
“Make it one” BLM, crayons. BLM
Activity:
Discuss each of the pictures on the activity sheet.
Look at the dog. Her name is “Spot”. Draw one large spot on her body.
Look at the monster. Draw in one eye, one arm and one leg.
Look at the apple tree. The farmer forgot to pick the last apple.
Draw one large apple on the tree.
Look at the fishbowl. Sam and Sarah just bought a new fish.
Draw one fish swimming inside the bowl.
Look at the cake. Baby Minh is one today.
Draw one thick candle on the cake.
Look at the blank space at the bottom right of the page. Draw your own picture
about “one” there.
Now go back and write a “1" beside all the things to do with one.
(Use the same sheet later in the year as a checkup for any of the numbers
from 1-10)
Using the Outcome Indicators
Each activity described in this book includes a set of outcome indicators, in
code, to help you with your class assessment. See page 89 for details.
Find time during each week to record class progress, based on observation,
discussion and work samples. When rushed for time, record at least a
representative number of children from different ability groups by filling in the
squares with a meaningful code of your own.
eg.
= Introduced to this concept
= well on the way to understanding this concept
= definitely grasps this concept
Don’t panic if by the end of the week you only complete a sample!
1 Exploring 1 - 5
27
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Mix it up
Page 37
GROUP
S1,2,3 C3 WM1,2,3
Resources:
Red/yellow/blue/black/white paint, paper, paint palettes/lids
for mixing paint, brushes, water, plastic sheets/newspaper, painting
smocks/shirts, A3 pages stapled to make a class book.
Activity:
Explore what happens when you mix two different paint colours
together. How many different new colours can you discover?
Collect the colour samples together in a book. Remember to wash
your brushes after each experiment.
eg.
What happens when you mix blue and yellow? Black and yellow?
White and yellow? Red and yellow? Repeat for other combinations.
How could you sort these new colours?
(eg. these all have yellow in them ...) Explain your sort to a friend.
Indian Headdress
C4 P1,2
ONE
Resources:
Coloured and laminated copies of “Indian Head-dress”
BLM, plenty of coloured paddle-pop sticks.
BLM
Activity:
Explain how indian chiefs wore beautiful feather headdresses in the past. Show how to construct a twos
pattern with the sticks as the feathers in the head-dress.
Swap patterns with a friend. Can you repeat their pattern
with your sticks? Can you repeat your pattern until it is as
long as the desk? How many sticks altogether?
Use this same workcard later in the year to make threes
or fours patterns too.
2 Exploring 1 - 5
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Indian Headdress
38
Exploring 1 - 5
2
Blake Education Reproducible
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Blindfold Me
CLASS
S1,2,3 N3 C3 WM1,2
Resources:
A variety of wooden/plastic 4-sided 2D shapes
(eg. squares, oblongs, kites, trapeziums ...),
a few non-4-sided shapes, 4 blindfolds.
Activity:
Ask individual children to come to the front and wear the
blindfolds. Place a shape in their hands.
Can they tell whether it has four sides or not?
Can they explain their reasons?
Geostrip Shapes
C3 N1,3,4 WM1,2
GROUP
Resources:
A variety of wooden/plastic 4-sided 2D shapes (eg. squares, oblongs,
kites, trapeziums ...), strips of cardboard/geostrips, split pins.
Activity:
Hold up a 4-sided shape. Demonstrate how to construct the outline
of a similar shape with 4 pieces of cardboard and 4 split pins.
Observe how there are many different regular and irregular shapes
that can be constructed.
Children construct their own 4-sided shapes with cardboard and
split pins.
Investigate and discuss all the different 4-sided shapes they
can make.
Written Activity:
Draw some of the discoveries on paper. Draw 4 things inside each
shape. Write the numbers from 1-4 on each side.
Go fly a Kite
C4 N3,4
CLASS
Resources:
“Go fly a Kite” BLM, crayons, scissors, two 2 cm wide cardboard
strips, crepe paper, paste, cotton ties.
BLM
Activity:
Discuss kites together, as examples of 4-sided shapes. Cut out the
kite outline. Cut carefully along the 8 dotted lines.
Weave two cardboard strips through the holes as indicated.
Decorate tails with crepe paper streamers and 4 bows.
Write a “4” in the centre of the kite.
Attach a long piece of strong cotton at the back. Go into the
playground and try to fly your kite!
4 Exploring 1 - 5
67
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Go fly
a Kite
68
Exploring 1 - 5
4
Blake Education Reproducible
EXPLORING 1 - 5
NUMBER
LOWER PRIMARY
The Exploring Maths series is designed to provide busy teachers
with practical resources that are fun and easy to use.
Each book contains a wealth of activities, blackline masters and
assessment tasks for a whole life-time of teaching. These activities
encourage your children to think mathematically by exploring,
experimenting, being creative and taking risks.
By asking questions and active discovery, children learn to enjoy using
mathematics as part of their everyday lives.
Exploring 1 - 5 includes
• More than 100 activity-based, easy to
use teaching ideas
• Assessment tasks and ideas
• Outcome indicators
• A unique emphasis on each number
• A sample weekly program and a
Yearly Maths overview
• Over 50 blackline masters designed
for non-readers
In fact, everything you need to bring the
numbers 1 - 5 alive in your classroom.
• Five counting rhyme mini-posters
• Useful number resources and flashcards
About the author
Originally a primary school teacher, Bev Dunbar is now actively involved in teacher
education as a Mathematics Consultant and University Lecturer in Mathematics
Education working in both the State and Catholic Education systems.
Bev is a passionate believer in fun, practical resources which help teachers make
maths lessons a highlight of the day.
Titles in the Exploring Maths series
NUMBER
Exploring 1 - 5
Exploring 6 - 10
Games and Activities for 0 - 10
Exploring 0 - 100 Numeration
Exploring 0 - 100 Operations
Exploring Fractions
Exploring Money
Exploring Calculators
How to have a Maths Fun Day
Exploring 0 - 50 Numeration
Exploring 0 - 50 Operations
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