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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Search and Find – Year 1 Halloween Maths Worksheet
Get your students counting up to Halloween with this fun search and find maths worksheet.
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Comparing Numbers - Halloween Maths Worksheets
Comparing numbers just got a little creepier with exciting Halloween-themed kindergarten maths worksheet.
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Number Handwriting Practise Worksheets
Provide number handwriting practise to your students with this set of worksheets for the numbers 0 through 20.
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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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Fractions on a Number Line – Differentiated Worksheets
Practise plotting and counting by fractions on a number line with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Comparing Numbers-Halloween Word Problems
Practise comparing numbers using MAB blocks with a Halloween Maths word problem worksheet.
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Digital Halloween Maths Activity
Save time writing your October maths lesson plans with a digital Halloween math activity for foundation year students.
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Numbers 1-20 Puzzle Pack
Identify and sequence the numbers from 1 to 20 with a set of Numbers 1-20 puzzles for kids.
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Halloween Number-Word Matching Worksheet
Match numbers and number words with a pack of Halloween printable maths worksheets for year 1.
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Hundreds Board
A hundreds chart that can be used for a variety of activities.
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Number Recognition Assessment Pack
Utilise this Number Recognition Assessment Pack to evaluate your students’ progress in recognising the numbers 0 through 120.
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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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Number Recognition Worksheets — Numbers 1 - 20
Use these number recognition worksheets to help your students master a variety of maths skills for the numbers 1 through 20.
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Counting Up to 20 Zoo Animals Worksheet Pack
Count the different animal groups on this set of three worksheets perfect for practising fundamental counting skills.
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Numbers and Words to 20 – Worksheet Pack
Use this set of worksheets when students are practising connecting numbers to words and quantities.
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Dotted Numbers 0-20 Handwriting Sheet
Get your students writing numbers from 0-20 with this number formation worksheet available in Australian school fonts.
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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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Halloween Maths Worksheets - Spooky Ten Frames
Model numbers to twenty using ten frames with a spooky Halloween maths worksheet for year 1.
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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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Crazy Creatures – Counting Worksheet
Bring a bit of (not-so) spooky counting into year 1 with a crazy creatures Halloween activity.
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Christmas Colour By Number - Hundreds Chart Mystery Pictures Activity
Print the perfect maths activity for Christmas: a set of 12 Christmas-inspired mystery hundreds charts.
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Colour By Number - Numbers 10-20
An engaging activity to consolidate your students’ recognition of two-digit numbers.
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Representations of Numbers 1-20 Flashcards
Practise representations of numbers 1 - 20 in your classroom with this versatile set of flashcards.
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Rounding Numbers – Teaching Slides
Teach the basics of rounding numbers with this engaging animated PowerPoint.
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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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Dot-to-Dot Worksheets – Counting by Ones
Use this set of 3 dot-to-dot worksheets to get your youngest students practising how to count by ones.
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Number Word Search Puzzles
Assign these number word search puzzles to your students to give them practise identifying the word form of the numbers 0 through 20.
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Find the Numbers - Worksheets for Kindergarten
Practise number identification with printable Number Hunt Math Worksheets for kindergarten.
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One, Two, Three, Four, Five - Counting Rhyme Poster
A counting rhyme to use when learning to count to ten.
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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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Halloween Tracing Numbers Worksheets
Trace and write numbers to twenty with a set of spooky Halloween tracing numbers worksheets.
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Algebraic Expressions – Interactive Activity
Practise writing, reading and solving algebraic expressions with this set of interactive activities.
- Number Sense Worksheets
- Number Sense Games
- 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
- Number Sense for Year 7