More Activities Using Counters
Snail One Hundred
In this game, you throw a dice and move counters along the snail's body and in a spiral around the snail's shell. It is about understanding tens and ones.
En-counters
This task requires learners to explain and help others, asking and answering questions.
6 Beads
If you put three beads onto a tens/ones abacus you can make the numbers 3, 30, 12 or 21. What numbers can be made with six beads?
Teddy Bear Line-up
What is the least number of moves you can take to rearrange the bears so that no bear is next to a bear of the same colour?
Three by Three
Arrange 3 red, 3 blue and 3 yellow counters into a three-by-three square grid, so that there is only one of each colour in every row and every column
Three Way Mix Up
Jack has nine tiles. He put them together to make a square so that two tiles of the same colour were not beside each other. Can you find another way to do it?
Counters in the Middle
This task depends on groups working collaboratively, discussing and reasoning to agree a final product.
Beads
Three beads are threaded on a circular wire and are coloured either red or blue. Can you find all four different combinations?
Counting Counters
Take a counter and surround it by a ring of other counters that MUST touch two others. How many are needed?
Make Pairs
Put 10 counters in a row. Find a way to arrange the counters into five pairs, evenly spaced in a row, in just 5 moves, using the rules.
You may also like
Counter Ideas
Here are some ideas to try in the classroom for using counters to investigate number patterns.