First off, what is Subitizing? Subitizing is recognizing a number without using any other mathematical process, like counting. When a dice is rolled, the children will just “see 3” without actually counting the dots each time. Subitizing for small children is to relate numbers to a group of items. Kids start subitizing as early as 3 to 4 as they start to recognize patterns.
There are many simple subitizing math activities you can do with your kids:
- Rolling dice in a game
- Playing with dominoes
- Card games
- Building patterns with manipulatives like counting bears, snap cubes, etc
- Ten Frames
Here is another activity you could use to encourage the kids to subitize easily. The swarming bees will have patterns counting up to differnt numbers. The idea is to have bees of the same numbered patterns matched with the corresponding flower.
Materials needed:
- Cardboard
- Acrylic markers
- Clear tape
- Velcro dots
- Dry-erase marker
Draw a few flowers with the Acrylic markers. Cut out some cardboard in the shape of bees. Draw some patterns for each number. I chose 4 patterns for this activity – fingers, dice, ten frames, and counting sticks.
Use the clear tape over some part of the flowers. Use the velcro dots – one side on the flowers, and the other side on the bees. Write a number on the clear tape with the dry-erase marker. Now encourage the kids to match the bees’ patterns to the right flower. The younger kids will initially count the dots, fingers or lines before matching. They will learn as they play the game repeatedly and slowly gain confidence subitizing many numbers with great ease.
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