Number Sense Teaching Resources
Browse printable number sense worksheets, hands-on maths activities and more teacher resources created by teachers for teachers like you!
These resources are aligned with the Australian Maths Curriculum, and each was created by teachers with teachers — and students — in mind to help build foundational maths skills in ways that engage and excite students about numbers!
Want to learn more about number sense? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a definition of number sense, how to assess this important maths skill and more!
What Is Number Sense?
In the most basic sense (no pun intended), number sense refers to a student's intuitive understanding of numbers and their relationships. It includes the ability to estimate and compare quantities, understand numerical patterns and relationships and make reasonable judgments about the accuracy of calculations.
When students show an understanding of numbers, their size, relationships,and how they are affected by the four mathematical operations, what they're really showing is their number sense.
In an educational setting, building number sense is closely related to other foundational skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking and logical reasoning. As our students get older, it will become a crucial skill for daily life they will use to manage finances, calculate time and make decisions based on numerical information.
Teach Starter Teacher Tip: Although the names may seem interchangeable, it's worth noting that number sense is not the same as mathematical fluency or memorisation of algorithms, but rather a deep understanding of the underlying concepts and relationships between numbers.
When Does Number Sense Develop?
There is no single year level when we're teaching students number sense — instead, it continues to develop and become more sophisticated as students progress through primary school.
Research suggests that babies as young as 6 months old can distinguish between small and large numbers of objects, and by prep, students are already working on number sense as they begin to learn counting and one-to-one correspondence. At this level, they're also beginning to develop an understanding of quantity and relative size — both key to overall number sense.
Number sense will continue to grow in primary school as students become more adept at recognising and using numbers to solve problems, and it continues into high school and — for many students — into university.
Assessing Number Sense
When we assess students for their number sense skills, there are certain mathematical concepts that they should have under their belts. These include:
- Ability to Recognise Missing Numbers in a Pattern —When kids can fill in missing numbers in a sequence, they're showing that they can make connections between numbers and develop an understanding of the relationships between them.
- Ability to Use Maths Mentals — Students with number sense can use maths mentals to solve problems involving the four basic operations.
- Ability to Engage in Systematic Counting — Children who can count systematically can more easily understand the relationships between numbers, including number magnitude, patterns and sequences.
- Ability to Subitise Numbers — Students can use visual clustering skills to instantly recognise how many objects are in a group without physically counting them.
- Ability to Relate Numbers to Real-World Problems —For example, a student may understand that '3' means 'three objects' or 'three days' or 'three dollars.'
- Ability to Compose and Decompose Numbers — Students use number sense when they break down numbers and put them back together. For example, a student who can break down the number 10 into 8 and 2, then add the two back together to again make 10, is using number sense.
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Counting to 20 Cut and Paste Worksheet
Count objects within 20 and match the total to its written number on this 2-page cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Fractions on a Number Line – Differentiated Worksheets
Practise plotting and counting by fractions on a number line with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Comparing Integers – Maths Mazes
Compare positive and negative numbers while you work your way through this set of maths mazes.
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Hundreds Board Mystery Picture Task Cards
A set of 32 activity task cards that require students to colour in a hundreds chart to reveal a mystery picture.
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Base Ten Block Matching Cards (Numbers 1 - 120)
Connect base ten block representations with numerals with these multi-use matching cards.
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Subitising Worksheets Variety Pack
Incorporate these subitising worksheets into your lessons to give your students practise subitising collections up to 12.
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Finger Counting Cut and Paste
Count to ten using this finger counting cut and paste worksheet.
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Roll & Cover Counting Activity
Build fine motor and counting skills with a set of printable Roll and Cover Counting Activity Mats.
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Number Bonds Subtraction - Worksheet
Practise subtraction using number bonds with differentiated number bond worksheets.
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Hands-On Numbers 1-10 Caterpillar Activity
Match numbers 1-10 with their various visual representations to build a fun mathematical caterpillar!
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Friends of 20 Dominoes
A set of dominoes to use in the classroom when matching friends of 20.
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Base Ten Block Matching Cards (Random Numbers 100 - 1000)
Use these base ten block matching cards to help your students practise number recognition and place value skills for numbers up to 1000.
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Sequencing Activities — Numbers 1-9 Sausage Dog
Use our sequencing activities like this sausage dog to help your students practise ordering the numbers 1 - 9.
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Subitising Mazes (Numbers 1 - 10)
Solve our subitising mazes to have fun practising subitising quantities up to 10!
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Subitising Games — Leapfrog!
Play this subitising game in your classroom to help your students practise subitising small collections.
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I Can Count To Ten – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this set of counting worksheets to help your students sequence numbers from 0 to 10.
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Subitising Dominoes
Use these subitising dominoes to give your students practise subitising small collections of objects.
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Number, Name and Ten Frame Match-Up Cards 1-30
Cards to consolidate numerals, names and values up to 30.
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Ordinal Number Word Search with Solution
A fun word search to help your students learn ordinal numbers.
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Number Word Search Puzzles
Assign these number word search puzzles to your students to give them practise identifying the word form of the numbers 0 through 20.
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Which Is More? Counting Card Game
Compare and order collections up to 20 with this set of counting cards.
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Subitise and Exercise
Get active with this subitise and exercise teaching brain break presentation.
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0-9 Digit Cards
A set of 0-9 digit cards to be used for numeracy games in the classroom.
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Zero to Thirty Posters
A set of posters showing numbers 0 - 30.
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Writing Numbers 0-10
A chart to assist students when learning how to form numbers.
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Composite Numbers - Assorted Backgrounds
Composite numbers displayed on a hundreds board.
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Frog in a Pond - Colour by Numbers
Colour by numbers is a fun and easy way to help students recognise digits.
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Subitising Activity — Clip Cards (Numbers 1 - 10)
Share this subitising activity with your students to give them hands-on practise subitising to 10.
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Ten Frame Printable — Monster Teeth
Delight your students with this ten frame printable activity. This resource reinforces number recognition by inviting them to add teeth to monster-themed ten frames.
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Alien-Themed Counting Worksheet
Use these alien-themed counting worksheets to help your students count quantities between 1 and 10.
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Monster Counting Mats Numbers 1-10
Count monster eyes up to 10 with this fun counting activity for the early years classroom.
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Counting to 10 Match-Up Activity
Practise counting to 10 with this set of twenty object and number matching cards.
- Number Sense Games
- Number Sense Worksheets
- Number Sense Posters
- Number Sense Templates
- Number Sense for Preschool/Kindergarten
- Number Sense for Foundation Year
- Number Sense for Year 1
- Number Sense for Year 2
- Number Sense for Year 3
- Number Sense for Year 4
- Number Sense for Year 5
- Number Sense for Year 6