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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Subitise to 10 Task Cards — Number Talks
Help your students subitise to 10 and beyond with these number talk task cards.
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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.
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Number 1-30 Fishy Find Game
A set of 'fish' representing numbers 1-30 in numeral and word form.
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Counting Crocodiles - Numbers 1 to 10 Worksheet
A crocodile themed place value worksheet to use when identifying and counting numbers from 1 to 10.
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Ordinal Numbers Poster - 1st to 10th
1st to 10th ordinal numbers on one page.
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Ordinal Numbers Flashcards
Flash cards for ordinal numbers.
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Ordinal Numbers Poster
A poster for ordinal numbers 1st - 50th, plus 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th.
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1 to 20 Number Match-Up Puzzles
A set of 20 match-up puzzles to help students identify the numbers from 1 to 20.
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Ordinal and Cardinal Number Posters
Posters connecting ordinal and cardinal numbers from 1-10.
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Number and Word Posters 0-99
Posters showing numbers and words from 0-99.
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Counting to Twenty Poster - BW
A poster showing numbers and words from one to twenty.
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Counting to Twenty Poster - Colour
A poster showing numbers and words from one to twenty.
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Ordinal Numbers Worksheet
A worksheet to help students consolidate their understanding of ordinal numbers.
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Ordinals Worksheet Pack
Support early maths instruction with this ordinals worksheet pack, designed to help students confidently identify, read and use ordinal numbers.
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Number Matching Puzzle - Division
A hands-on game to play when learning about dividing numbers.
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Many Candles Counting Birthday Cake Activity
‘Gift’ this many candles counting birthday cake activity to your students for hands-on counting and number representation practice.
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Animated Flip Book (Ordering Numbers)
Delight your students with this animated flip book that will help them solidify their understanding of counting and ordering the numbers 1 through 20.
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Counting Wheel Clip Cards Numbers 1-10
Practise counting objects to 10 and using fine motor skills to put a peg on these clip cards.
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Build a Pizza Counting Interactive Activity
Build a pizza by using counting skills with this fun interactive game.
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Gumball Counting Clip Cards
Practise counting gumballs and matching the numeral with what has been counted with this set of fun clip cards.
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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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Remembrance Day Activity - Counting Peg Cards
Practise counting sets of objects with a group of 15 printable Remembrance Day peg cards.
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Halloween Counting to 10 Worksheets
Count, write, and match numbers and objects with printable Halloween counting worksheets.
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Pumpkin Count and Colour - Halloween Maths Worksheet
Use these Halloween maths worksheets to practise counting sets of objects up to ten.
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Colourful Tens Frames
Print a colourful set of tens frames to enhance your small group maths lessons.
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Adding and Subtracting Integers - Tarsia Puzzle
Practise adding and subtracting integers with a printable Tarsia puzzle!
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Making Ten Cut and Paste Worksheet
A cut-and-paste worksheet to practise finding the missing addend when making ten.
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Pop Art Products - Basketball Colour By Number Worksheet
Bring some pop art into the classroom with a multiplication colour-by-number worksheet.
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Understanding Exponents – Task Cards
Practise rewriting, comparing and evaluating expressions with exponents with this set of task cards.
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100th Day Find and Colour - Numbers
Look for numbers with a 100th day of school find and colour worksheet.
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Christmas Snap Cube Maths Mats
Create a snap cube activity for the Christmas season with a printable set of Christmas Snap cube 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