Last Updated on October 3, 2024 by Editorial Team
Please Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure (link) for more info.
Place value determines the value of a digit that arises due to its place in a number. For example, in number 843, the face value of 8 is 8, but the place value is 8×100 = 800. Learning this concept is helpful in building basic math concepts like decimals, and so on.
Manipulatives offer to learn support that the learners can use to internalize the place value concept by the way of arranging, sorting, or reordering the materials like straw bundles, strips, and others. The users of manipulatives are able to understand the concept of working behind the place value in a lucid manner. This brings proficiency in the way of applying the concept of place value for solving math problems, just like decimal manipulatives do.
Listed here are the 10 best place value manipulatives you can employ in activities that can help students understand and apply this basic math concept.
1. Edx Education Four Color Plastic Base Ten Set
This manipulative comprises about a hundred yellow-colored units, 1 cube in red color, and 10 pieces each of green rods and blue flats. Its purpose is to teach the concept of place value and to introduce math beginners to decimals.
Apart from teaching place value in a fun-filled way, the concepts of counting and of a few other mathematical operations can also be strengthened. This manipulative is quite useful for homeschooling and also offers engaging classroom material or teaching aid to the teachers. These are made of break-proof materials; thus, these manipulatives can be used for years.
2. hand2mind Place Value Answer Board
This Montessori Math manipulative helps in reinforcing place value in a hands-on way with these Place Value Boards. The double sided write and erase answer board allows students to break and represent the whole number, which helps bring greater clarity in the concept of face values. It comes with base 10 blocks as an additional asset and the attractive handle and board keeps the child glued on to the place value practice
3. Didax Educational Resource Magnetic Base
What better manipulative than a Magnetic Base to keep your child glued on to the place value concepts. The manipulative will consists of a frame, base ten pieces, 21 number labels and even extensive teaching notes. It sure is an all comprehensive package. This keeps the child interested in discovering and learning the concepts of place value in a fun and entertaining manner.
4. . Junior Learning JL489 Place value Dominoes
These 28 dominoes set will get the ball rolling for your child as far as place value concepts are concerned. These dominoes make the child think and are neither too easy, nor too difficult for the child to start assessing place values.
No heavy instructions required, just unpack the dominoes and get started with your place value concepts.
5. Place Value Flip Chart
It is a very easy-to-use manipulative that offers to learn support to math beginners. Not only the learners can understand and grasp the place value concept, but they can also know how to write the numbers in words.
This manipulative is designed to provide information on how to present the numbers while telling the place value of each digit. Each slot comprises of numbers 0 to 1; thus, all possible numbers possible to make with four digits can be learned using this place value manipulative. The color-coded cards arranged in a calendar style offer ease of use, which makes them exceptionally kid-friendly.
6. Learning Resources Place Value Disks
Group, add, subtract, and do a lot more with these place-value disks. These place value manipulatives offer the ease of grouping and sorting the numbers with the help of their color-coded make. The students can touch, stack, and sort basis the colors. The teachers can guide them with the numbers imprinted on the disks.
This can help in developing math skills like adding, subtracting, etc. without actually indulging in the computation part. This manipulative is ideal for students of age 6 and above. About 280 pieces enable performing group activity, which ultimately promotes participative learning.
7. Learning Resources Ten-Frame Floor Mat Activity Set
The floor mat activity set offers a playful manipulative for learning place values ranging from one to thousands. This manipulative comprises colored disks that need to be arranged on the boxes given on the floor mat. By the way of sorting and arranging, the students can grasp the concept of place value with better memory retention.
Apart from the place value, this manipulative also serves the purpose of teaching math skills like counting, adding, subtracting, and so on. These manipulatives improve 1:1 number correspondence skills and are quite helpful in developing gross motor skills as well.
8. Junior Learning 50 Place Value Activities
This learning game is manipulative that teaches place value through gamification. This activity set is a fantastic place value manipulative that offers ample practice by the way of offering a number of activities. Apart from understanding the place value concept, this activity set also helps develop counting, adding, and subtracting skills. The challenge level can be increased with the progress in the learning curve.
This manipulative offers learning based on developmental progression and promotes mathematical mastery to the early learners of math skills. Children can challenge each other and then share the strategies for completing the activity, internalizing the place value concept in the process.
9. Didax Educational Resource Base 10 Place Value Frame
This is the simplest manipulative that comes with a frame and foam numbers if you have just started on the journey to teach your kid the concept of place values. Place the foam numbers on the place value frame and help your child grasp the elementary concepts of place value.
To sum up,
these manipulatives are serving multiple purposes and are teaching the students to lot more than place value in a single session. The use of strategies like encouraging participation, generating a response, and challenging students with an increase in the level of difficulty allows making the best use of these place value manipulatives
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,