Teaching with Manipulatives

Helping children understand math:
"Teaching with math manipulatives helps children understand math concepts. Hands on learning or learning by doing keeps the students' attention as they naturally want to play with and explore objects.When children can touch and move manipulatives or real things when learning new skills, their senses are involved in the learning experience.Children benefit when they are able to fully understand new concepts with concrete materials before they are expected to understand the same ideas with symbols."

-Patricia Bentham, author, kindergarten-lessons.com

The images above were taken during a math lesson I taught a group of kindergarten students. I used some very untraditional manipulatives to teach this lesson. Students worked with jelly beans during this lesson. Using jelly beans as a manipulative was very inexpensive and delicious. The students used the jelly beans to practice sorting, counting one-to-one, and solving addition problems. The students were actively engaged during the lesson. The students were able to learn through investigation and discovery!

When Working With Math Manipulatives:
The students need time to get used to working with the materials. The students also need time to explore and "play" with the materials. The students can now focus on the lesson better after they explore the materials.

If you do not have enough of each manipulative have your students work in groups.It would be easier for the students to work with the materials in groups of two. It is also more productive when the students work in groups. The students can learn with and from each other.