Fun with Place Value: Activities for Early Number Learning

10 December, 2024

How do young learners begin to understand the structure of numbers?

A key part of this understanding lies in the concept of place value—the idea that the value of a digit in a number is determined by its position. Place value is an essential component of students’ mathematical development, setting the foundation for understanding numbers and laying the groundwork for more complex concepts in later grades.

Join us as we explore place value activities, strategies and teaching tips to help students grasp this fundamental concept with confidence.

Place Value Activities

Hands-On

Manipulatives play a crucial role in teaching place value because they provide students with concrete representations of this abstract concept. Manipulatives such as base-ten blocks, place value charts, place value arrows and number expanders allow students to physically manipulate objects to represent ones, tens, hundreds, and so on.

Place Value Chart Activities

Use place value charts to visually represent numbers. This allows students to see the value of each digit within a number. This helps build an understanding around the concepts such as addition, subtraction, and comparing numbers.

Highest and Lowest

Provide students with a set of digits (e.g. 3, 6, 2, 5) and ask them to create the largest and smallest numbers possible. Provide students with place value charts for extra support if needed.

Representing Numbers

Numbers can be represented in several different ways, including expanded notation (e.g., 453=400+50+3), words, base-ten blocks, bundles of 10, counters on a place value chart, among others. Give students a number and challenge them to represent it in multiple ways. This activity helps build a deeper understanding of place value and helps promotes flexibility in working with numbers.

Building Numbers

Give students MABs and allow them time to explore how they can use them to make numbers. For an extra challenge, give students challenges.

For example:

• Build the largest number possible using only 3 blocks
• Create a number using exactly 7 blocks
• Represent the number…
• …Now create a number that is exactly 10 more than the original number.
• Create a number between 100 and 500

Number Expanders

Number expanders are strips with fold lines that allow the title of each place value position to be hidden or displayed. When the expander is closed, the number’s standard form is shown. When opened, the number’s expanded form is shown. This is a great tool to help students identify the value of each digit in a number. For example, the number 172 is shown below in standard and expanded forms.

Expanded Form

Give students practice writing numbers in expanded notation. For example, the number 461 could be expressed as 400+60+1. Help students see that numbers can be expanded in many different ways. For example, 461 could also be expressed as 460+1, 400+61, or even 200+200+61. These are known as non-standard forms. Representing numbers in non-standard form is important in helping students build flexibility in their thinking and will eventually help students understand the concept of regrouping and borrowing when solving more complex maths problems. Number expanders are a fantastic tool to help students understand this concept.

Roll and Build

Students compete against one another in pairs in order to build the largest number. Each student has a place value chart. The first player rolls a 9-sided die (or chooses a playing card) and decides which place value column to put their number in, using MABs to represent it. The second player takes their turn. The game continues until both players have built their number. Students then compare the numbers to find out who managed to build the larger number.

Use a range of place value activities and strategies to help give students the greatest chance to build confidence working with numbers.