Now you see them, now you don't! This fun peek-a-boo activity engages young mathematicians in developing their ability to compose and decompose numbers. After being presented with a series of counters, children close their eyes while the teacher covers some of the counters with a piece of paper. Upon opening their eyes, students must determine how many counters are hidden. Start by performing this activity as a whole class or during small group rotations, eventually allowing children to play the game in pairs once they become comfortable with the process. For advanced learners, consider having them write addition and subtraction equations that represent each situation, leading them to an understanding of fact families.

Concepts

addition, decomposing numbers, number combinations, numbers, subtraction

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Additional Tags

decomposing numbers, composing numbers, parts and wholes, addition, subtraction, number combinations, math

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Pros

• Offers a different approach to teaching children how numbers are put together as parts and wholes
• Activity allows learners to implement their own problem-solving strategies

Cons

• Additional scaffolding may be required to support all students with the learning objectives

Common Core

K.OA.A.2 MP7