Subitising Teaching Resources
Are you on the hunt for subitising activities, games, task cards, worksheets and more for your lesson plans?
The Teach Starter teacher team has assembled a complete collection of teacher-created printables and digital options to teach your early years students how to subitise and build their crucial counting and cardinality skills.
Aligned with Australian maths curriculum standards, this collection of teacher resources has undergone a careful review by a member of our teacher team to ensure it's ready for your classroom and your students!
Is this your first year teaching this part of the maths curriculum, or your first time in a few years? Don't fret! The maths teachers on our teaching team have put together a quick refresher on the definition of subitising and some tips on how to teach this crucial skill.
What Is Subitising in Maths?
Did you learn this word in uni? Don't feel bad if it's unfamiliar! We've got you covered with this simple subitising definition.
Subitising is the ability to instantly recognise the number of objects in a small group without the need to count them. It's essentially 'seeing' amounts of things without being given a number in digit form.
For example, when a student rolls a die, if they can instantly recognise the number of dots on its face, that's because they know how to subitise. Subitising is all about helping students to relate numbers to actual items or groups of items.
This maths concept comes from Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, the man whose theory of cognitive development is well-regarded in educational circles.
Subitising Pronunciation — How to Say Subitise
We've had more than a few teachers ask us about the proper subitising pronunciation. Does the suffix 'sub' have a short u sound like the 'sub' in subtraction?
It would make sense. After all, they are both maths terms. The answer may (or may not!) surprise you.
Subitising is pronounced with a long u sound —/oo/.
The word comes from the Latin subit(us) meaning sudden and has no relation to subtraction at all!
How to Teach Subitising — Tips for Teachers
It's an important mathematical concept, but just how do you teach subitising?
The key is to expose students to number patterns so they can begin to compose and decompose numbers mentally, setting the stage for 'seeing' those numbers in small groups of objects.
To help you get started, our teaching team has put together dozens of resources, each of which has been reviewed by expert teachers to ensure they're classroom-ready! But we didn't stop there. Try these tips from our team:
1. Add Number Talks to Your Routine
You'll notice plenty of number talks resources for teachers on the Teach Starter site, and for good reason. Giving students a chance to play with numbers every day — even if it's just for 5 or 10 minutes — creates repetition that can help your students build their number sense.
2. Apply the 4 Corners Concept to Subitising
Mount numbers on the classroom wall, and use the Teach Starter random dice roller to randomly roll the die. Project the result onto your whiteboard or smartboard, and direct students to move to the wall with the correct number.
3. Use Hands-on Manipulatives
It may sound obvious, but don't forget to pull out those manipulatives! Dice and dominoes are particularly helpful for building number sense.
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Ten Frame Number Posters (0-20)
Decorate your classroom with our ten frame number posters that will delight your animal-loving students while providing concrete representations of the numbers 0-20.
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Number Recognition 0-5 Colour-by-Number Pack
Practise number recognition with this colour-by-number activity pack! Students colour varied representations of the numbers 0-5 to solidify their understanding.
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Tens Frame Mats (Single and Double)
Introduce these tens frame mats to your students to promote number sense with hands-on learning.
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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 to 10 Teaching Slides
Display our Subitising to 10 Teaching Slides to encourage mathematical discussions in your classroom.
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Subitising Assessment Pack
Utilise our Subitising Assessment Pack to test your students' ability to subitise quantities up to 10.
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Subitising Bingo Games (Numbers 1 - 10)
Play these subitising bingo games in your guided groups to give your students practise subitising numbers up to 10.
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Ten Frame Printable Templates
Use these printable ten frames in various math lessons to reinforce number sense and other essential skills.
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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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Subitising Mazes (Numbers 1 - 10)
Solve our subitising mazes to have fun practising subitising quantities up to 10!
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Classroom Display for Numbers 1 - 10
Utilise this classroom display to help your students recognise multiple representations of the numbers 1 - 10.
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I Have Who Has – Numbers 1–20
Practise identifying numbers 1–20 with this set of “I Have, Who Has” game 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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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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Subitising Card Game
Utilise this subitising card game to reinforce number recognition and subitising skills with some friendly competition!
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Subitising Dominoes
Use these subitising dominoes to give your students practise subitising small collections of objects.
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Subitising to 10 Interactive Task Cards
Practise subitising to 10 with these varied and engaging interactive task cards.
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Subitising Small Collections PowerPoint
Teach your students to subitise with this editable set of teaching slides.
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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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Recognising Numbers 0 — 20 BINGO Game
Help your students identify numbers 0 - 20 with this printable Bingo game!
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Counting Peg Cards - Halloween
Practise counting objects with a set of 18 Halloween peg cards.
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Subitising Dice - Numbers 1 to 9
Practise subitising to 9 with your students using this versatile set of dice flashcards.
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Subitising “Construct-a-City” Activity
Utilise this hands-on subitising activity to help your students learn to subitise to 5 and beyond.
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Subitising to 10 Worksheet
Practise subitising to 10 with your students using this printable worksheet set.
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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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Cover Up! — Subitising Numbers Game
Use this subitising game to help your students instantly recognise the numbers 1 - 6.
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Subitise and Exercise
Get active with this subitise and exercise teaching brain break presentation.
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Subitising Game — Memory
Use this subitising game to help your students learn to quickly subitise numbers 1 - 12.
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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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100th Day of School-Roll to 100 Worksheet
Roll your way through the 100th Day with a printable dice game.
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Autumn Counting to 10 Clip Cards
Practice counting objects with 18 autumn-themed counting to ten clip cards.
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Subitising Game - Slap It!
Help students strengthen subitsing skills with this multiplayer maths card game!