5 of the Most Versatile Math Manipulatives

With lower elementary students, hands-on math is a must! Even with older students, using math manipulatives can be helpful for students to grasp math concepts.

Most schools provide teachers with the math manipulatives that they’ll need to teach the selected math curriculum of the district, but those may not be the best options. Furthermore, you may get into a classroom that has little to no math manipulatives available for students to use.

With that in mind, I want to share 5 of the most versatile math manipulatives to get for your students. That way by purchasing at least one of these items for your classroom, they can be used in a multitude of ways! Hopefully, you won’t be spending your own money to do so. Use your teacher supply money, put them on a Donor’s Choose, add them to an Amazon wish list, etc! Do whatever you can, so you don’t have to use your hard earned paycheck to provide materials for your students.

5 of the Most Versatile Math Manipulatives

1. Unifix Cubes- These little colored plastic cubes are amazing! They can be used for composing and decomposing. They can be used for making patterns or sorting. Unifix cubes can be used for graphing, counting and measuring. You can even use them to play math games.

Be sure to get enough for the whole class to use. You will want to have enough for at least 20 cubes (10 each of differing colors) for each student. Then, you can do whole class activities or keep them in a bin to be used during independent center time.

Tip: Students love to play with Unifix cubes during indoor recess! They use them as building blocks.

2. Pattern Blocks- Pattern blocks are blocks of different shapes where the shapes fit in each other to make a larger shape. They come with hexagons, trapezoids, squares, and triangles. Each shape is a different color.

Many teachers have pattern block cards that students can make pictures on using the various shapes. You could, also, have students create their own picture and record how many of each shape is used.

Pattern blocks can be used similar to unifix cubes. You can use them for the same types of activities, except for measuring. They will be more difficult to use as a measuring device.

3. Two-Color Counters- These counters are circle shaped and have a different color on each side. Usually they are used with ten frame mats for subitizing and composing/decomposing activities. There are, also, online versions of these to use on an interactive whiteboard.

4. Counting Bears or other Colored Creature- These can, also, be used similar to unifix cubes. They can be used for composing/decomposing activities. They can be used for patterning, sorting, and graphing activities. They can, also, be used for math games. It is good to have a variety of math manipulatives that can be used in the same way, so you can change them up and keep students engaged.

5. Dice- Dice are great to have on hand, too! You can usually find them at The Dollar Tree or you can purchase them online. There are, even, different types of dice that go up to larger numbers or have math symbols on them. Those are not a must-have, but can be useful.

Dice can be used to play many math games, whether alone or with a partner/small group. They can be used with a game board or can be used as the game with a recording sheet provided. It is recommended to have two dice per student in your class, so they can be used for play alone games/activities.

Bonus Manipulative: Dominoes- Dominoes are another fun option! They can be used for math games as well. They, also, double as an entertaining indoor recess activity when you teach them how to set them up to knock them down with one push!

This is one manipulative you don’t have to have a class set for, just 1-2 sets of dominoes will do. You would use them in an independent center.

Tips for Using Manipulatives

Take the time to introduce each manipulative before having students use them for their intended purpose. Give them time to play with and explore each manipulative. Discuss rules for using them and for how you would like them stored.

Figure out how you want the manipulative stored in your classroom. Will all manipulatives be returned to a designated labeled bin each day? Will students keep some of the manipulative in their desk or at their table for every day individual use?

If you choose to have students use a certain manipulative every day for completing assignments, let them use it on the test. When you want them to be able to start switching over to mental math, you can begin to phase out the use of the manipulative.

Conclusion

There are many math manipulative options out there to choose from! When choosing math manipulatives for your classroom, be selective. Ask yourself, “How many ways will my students be able to use it to make math visible to them?” If the answer is only 1 or 2, that math manipulative may not be the best choice for your classroom.

Let me know in the comments what math manipulative is your must-have! If you enjoyed this post, check out my post 15 Marvelous Math Videos!