Snap Cubes are a versatile collection of threequarter-inch interlocking cubes which come in ten
colors and connect on all six sides. They are pleasant to
handle, easy to manipulate and, although simple in
concept, can be used to develop a wide variety of
mathematical ideas at many different levels of
complexity. Since Snap Cubes come in ten different
colors, the cubes are useful for developing patterns,
both one- and two-dimensional, based on color. The
cubes can be arranged in a single layer to naturally fit into a square grid
pattern, or they can be used to cover positions on a printed grid or game board. When
the cubes are used to build three-dimensional structures, they lead naturally to the concepts of
volume and surface area.
g
n
i
r
o
l
p
x
E
s
e
b
u
™
C
Snap
From: The Disappearing Train
The colors of the Snap Cubes can also be used to identify cubes in other contexts. For
example, the different colors can represent designated quantities in various number situations.
They become a sampling device when they are drawn from a bag, and they aid in concretely
building bar graphs.
From: Some Sums
WORKING WITH SNAP™ CUBES
Snap Cubes make natural and appealing counters. Since they snap together firmly, they
are useful for young children as number models. If children build a stick corresponding to
each number from 1 to 10, it is natural for them to arrange them in a staircase and to talk
about greater and less, longer and shorter. Numbers might also be represented by the
© ETA/Cuisenaire®
following cube patterns, which are easily sorted into “even” ones, in which each cube is
paired with another, and “odd” ones, in which there is an “odd man out.”
...
...
Snap Cubes also help children to more easily see relationships such as the following:
“doubles facts”
3+3=6
“neighbor facts”
3+4=3+3+1
even + even = even
4 + 6 = 10
even + odd = odd
4+3=7
odd + odd = even
3+5=8
Since there are large numbers of cubes in a set of Snap Cubes, they are useful for
estimation and for developing number sense. Children can make a long rod with the cubes,
estimate how many there are in the rod, and then separate the rod into sticks of 10, identify
how many tens they have, and count the “leftovers” to find how many ones there are.
The colors of the cubes further make them useful in developing the concept of place
value. Each color can represent a place value, and children can play exchange games in
which, if they have 10 of one color, they can exchange them for one of the next color.
Snap Cubes are very suitable for developing understanding of the meaning of addition.
They can be used as loose counters, with a different color for each addend. The colors can
also broaden children’s understanding of subtraction. Children often think initially of
subtraction as “take away.” To act out 6 – 4, children put out 6 cubes and take away 4.
Snap Cubes are also ideal for developing the concept of multiplication, both as grouping
and as an array. To show 3 x 4, children can make 3 “cube trains” with 4 in each and count
them all. Arranging these cubes in a rectangular array not only makes it visually easy to
understand why 3 x 4 = 4 x 3 but also leads naturally into a model for understanding the
formula for the area of a rectangle. In addition, Snap Cubes are suitable for exploring area,
perimeter, volume, and surface area relations.
From: Make a Copy
Snap Cubes are a wonderful tool to use in helping children to represent numbers in terms
of factors and to understand procedures of finding greatest common divisors and least
common multiples. Snap Cubes are also a natural unit for length, and using them can lead to
early experience of ratio and proportion. Children can measure the same length in Snap
Cubes and in another unit, perhaps inches. They can record their results for a few different
lengths. They may then measure in just one unit and predict the measure in the other.
© ETA/Cuisenaire®
ASSESSING CHILDREN’S UNDERSTANDING
Snap Cubes are wonderful tools for assessing children’s mathematical thinking. Watching
children work on their Snap Cubes gives you a sense of how they approach a mathematical
problem. Their thinking can be “seen,” in so far as that thinking is expressed through the way
they construct, recognize, and continue spatial patterns. When a class breaks up into small
working groups, you are able to circulate, listen, and raise questions, all the while focusing on
how individuals are thinking. Here is a perfect opportunity for authentic assessment.
Having children describe their structures and share their strategies and thinking with the
whole class gives you another opportunity for observational assessment. Furthermore, you
may want to gather children’s recorded work or invite them to choose pieces to add to their
math portfolios.
From: Some Sums
From: Sneak a Peek
Models of teachers assessing children’s understanding can be found in Cuisenaire’s series
of videotapes listed below. Snap Cubes can be used in many of the lessons shown on the
Color Tiles and Six Models tapes.
© ETA/Cuisenaire®