Games · Lessons ·

Tower in Order

Girl Studying Math with SumBlox Number Blocks

Sample Lesson 1

From Early Childhood Activity Cards

Step One

Have students stack each number in order.

Purpose: Practice adding numbers in order. Sequential understanding that the numbers are related.

Support through verbal encouragement.
For children of a young age focus on the sizes of the blocks, but encourage calling them by their value. 'Where is the smallest block? That must be the one block.'

Step Two

Build a new tower, with the 'ten block' on the bottom.

Encourages understanding of descension. Numbers can grow or reduce.
If children manage to finish their tower, encourage them to continue building with bonus blocks.
Reaffirm, 'our one to 10 blocks finish here, so how much taller is our tower?' And add up the extra blocks for the answer. This is a great introduction to addition.

Step Three

Review: 'Did you like the ten on the bottom, or the one?'

Encourage students to think more about their activity. The ten on the bottom may be sturdier but it gets much higher faster.

Summary

This activity provides students with practice ordering numbers 1 to 10. The activity also teaches students the importance of starting with the largest number on bottom, a concept which can later be applied to basic addition. Make sure you are playing with the students so they can hear and see your instructions.