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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Numbers 1-12 Frog Catching Flies Activity
A hands-on activity where children consolidate their knowledge of numbers 1-12.
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One More, One Less Task Cards
A set of 24 task cards to enable students to practise identifying one more and one less than a number.
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Tens - Numbers 10 - 100 Posters - Money, Tallies, Tens Frames and MAB Blocks (New Zealand Currency)
Posters showing numbers going up in tens from 10 - 100 with associated images.
- Free Plan
I Have, Who Has – Rounding to 500 000
Use this engaging maths game to practise rounding numbers through 500 000 with your students.
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Number Talks - How Many Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Racing Car Ordinal Numbers 1st - 10th
Racing cars with the number and the corresponding word for each ordinal number position.
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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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Virtual Subitising Card Deck
Display these virtual subitising cards to teach your students to instantly recognise quantities.
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1 to 20 Dump Truck Number Cards
Support early number sense with these number cards 1 to 20 through a fun dump truck counting activity.
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Ordinal Position Task Cards
Support early maths learning with this ordinal position activity designed to help Foundation students explore position and order through a fun, hands‑on number track task.
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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 Mazes (Numbers 1 - 10)
Solve our subitising mazes to have fun practising subitising quantities up to 10!
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Subitising Dots Worksheets
Utilise these Subitising Dots Worksheets to help your students learn many ways to subitise 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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Ten Frame Variety Pack
Enliven your ten frame activities with this variety pack that contains both single and double ten frame templates.
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Number Recognition Worksheet Pack
Use this collection of number recognition worksheets to help your students practise recognising the numbers 0 through 20 in many forms.
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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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Recognising Numbers 0 — 10 Bingo (Small Group)
Play this fun number recognition game with your preschool and foundation students to help them identify the numbers 0 - 10!
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My Life in Numbers Worksheet
Use this numbers worksheet as a means of student introductions early in a new school year.
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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 20 I Have, Who Has? Card Game
Show student knowledge of counting to 20 with this fun I Have, Who Has? Counting Card Game.
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Build a City Counting Game
Build towers consisting of numbers up to 10 with this fun build a city game.
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I Can Count to 10 Mini Book
Practise counting small objects up to 10 with this student counting mini book.
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Counting Within 20 Picture Puzzle
Practise counting objects within 20 and matching groups to numbers through this 15-piece winter scene picture puzzle.
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Search and Find Bowerbird Worksheets
Explore images to find and count objects for a bowerbirds nest and bowerbirds themselves.
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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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Adding and Subtracting Integers - Tarsia Puzzle
Practise adding and subtracting integers with a printable Tarsia puzzle!
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Easter Hundreds Board Mystery Pictures
A set of 9 Easter-inspired mystery hundreds charts.
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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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Subitise and Exercise
Get active with this subitise and exercise teaching brain break presentation.
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Counting Objects Hunt – Numbers 1–10
Use one-to-one correspondence skills to practise counting objects up to 10.
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Number Match Treasure Hunt
Have students gather the treasure and make matches of numerals, quantities and number names with this match-up activity.