Looking for counting and ordering numbers activities for your kindergarten or first grade students? Number puzzles are a fun hands on way to practice all year long! Keep reading for 8 ways to use number puzzles in your classroom.
1. Laminate
Print, laminate and use year after year! These puzzles don’t take up much room when you clip the strips together with a binder clip. I labeled all my sets and stored them in a plastic pouch. Easy to find and use again the following year. In addition to all the number order practice your students will get… it takes a steady hand to line all the pieces up. Their fine motor skills will get a work out too!
2. Cut & Paste
Need something low prep? Print off the black and white puzzles and they are ready to go! Students can color, cut, mix up and then glue back in order. They look great glued on some bright paper.
3. Writing Numbers
Add a recording sheet and students can practice writing the numbers too! Each set of number puzzles has a recording sheet for 4 puzzles. TIP! Use the same color binder clip for the puzzles that go together with each recording paper. This makes it easy to grab the matching puzzles and paper for a quick math center.
Valentine’s Day Number Puzzles
4. Counting in Many Ways
Your students won’t only practice counting to 10! You can use number puzzles to count larger numbers, count on from a given number, count backwards, count with tally marks and skip count. So many skills to practice!
5. Differentiate
It is easy to differentiate when the numbers are editable! Change up the numbers on the puzzles as your students advance or to accommodate students working at different levels.
*The last 3 ideas are from teachers that have used my number puzzles in their classroom.ย Thank you for sharing!
6. Color and Trade with a Friend
This was a fun idea shared with me. Have students color the black and white puzzles, cut them up into strips and put them in a baggie. Students then exchange puzzles and glue their classmates puzzles in order.
7. Color and Laminate
Another teacher shared that she let her fast finishers color the black & white puzzles. She then laminated and cut up the student coloured puzzles to use in their math centers.
8. Display in Order
I loved this idea for displaying the number puzzles. Have students complete cut & paste puzzles with different numbers. The puzzles are then put in numerical order (kinda like a number line) and displayed this way!
Looking for some ordering numbers activities? Click below and a get a free set of Number Puzzles sent right to your inbox!
Other Posts You Might Like
โข 8 Ways to use Clip Cards All year Long
โข 8 Ways to Celebrate Classroom Birthdays
