‘SMART-Counting’ wooden puzzle sorter

About the game

How can you represent the number five? You can write the digit, count objects, hold up your fingers or use Roman numerals. Try to find all the different ways to represent the same number!

‘SMART-Counting’ — a wooden sorting puzzle for learning numbers from 0 to 10. The child selects tiles featuring Arabic and Roman numerals, as well as pictures of fingers and objects, combining four different ways of representing a single number. Tables for the numbers 0–5 and 6–10 help to organise the activities.

One number — four different ways to see, understand and remember it.

In the set

• wooden box 17.5 × 12.5 × 4.5 cm
• 42 tiles: Arabic numerals from 0 to 10, Roman numerals from I to X, finger counting, and pictures of objects
• 2 chart boards: from 0 to 5 and from 6 to 10

How to play

1. Choose a number — for example, 3.
2. The child finds the number 3, the Roman numeral III, three fingers and three objects.
3. Arrange them in a row on the board.

Where to start

Start with the numbers 1 to 3: the number, fingers, objects. Roman numerals can come later.

Game variations

• ‘Show with your fingers’;
• ‘Find all the sets of four’;
• ‘Arrange the numbers in order’;
• ‘Which one doesn’t belong in the row?’.

What children can practise

• counting up to 10
• the ‘number–quantity’ relationship
• attention

Who it’s for

Children aged 3 and over; at home, at kindergarten, or during lessons with a teacher.

Material

Wood-based board (pressed wood), bright print.