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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Subitising 1 to 12 - Domino Cards
A set of dominoes to use in the classroom when learning to subitise numbers from 1 to 12.
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Ten in the Bed - Counting Activity
A fun hands-on 'Ten in the Bed' number rhyme activity to help students sequence numbers and count backwards from 10.
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Number Matching Puzzle - Addition
A hands-on game to play when learning about adding numbers.
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Identifying Numbers PowerPoint
A 14 page editable PowerPoint presentation to use when teaching number recognition to younger students.
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Numbers to 30 - Printable Tens Frames
Use a printable ten frame when working on counting, addition and subtraction, odd and even numbers, or place value.
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Colour by Number Worksheet - Multiplication Facts (Rabbit)
Bring some colourful fun into your maths lessons with a multiplication colour by number worksheet.
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Prime Factorisation Match-Up
Practise how to find the prime factorisation of a number with this match-up activity.
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Snakes and Ladders Hundreds Chart Game
Complete each hundreds chart by putting the missing numbered clusters into place to play a game of Snakes and Ladders.
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Spot the Dots Subitising Activity
Build number sense skills with these sets of cards.
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Number Talks - Comparing Numbers Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Subitising Dice - Numbers 1 to 9
Subitising is the process of immediately recognising how many items are in a small group.
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Double Plus 1 – Game Boards
30 game boards to use when working with near doubles.
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Numbers 0–10 Bingo
32 different bingo cards for numbers 0–10.
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Number Wordsearch with Solution - 1
A number search to help your students to practice number recognition.
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Using Greater Than - Less Than Symbols - Halloween Worksheet
Practise using the greater than, less than, and equal to symbols to compare two-digit numbers with a fun Halloween worksheet.
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Find the Whole From a Percentage Worksheet
Practise how to find the whole from a percentage with this standard-practice worksheet.
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Chick Counting Activity - Numbers 1-20
Practise recognising, counting and subitising numbers from 1-20 with this Easter-themed counting activity.
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Pop Art Products - Basketball Colour By Number Worksheet
Bring some pop art into the classroom with a multiplication colour-by-number worksheet.
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Subitise Battle – Card Game
Quickly subitise and compare with this fast-paced card game.
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Secret Number Patterns – Card Game
Keep your secret number pattern hidden as you race to be the first to create number patterns based on given rules.
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Rounding to the Nearest Ten - Interactive Activity
Practise rounding two-digit numbers to the nearest ten with this interactive Google Slides activity.
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Rounding Task Cards
Use place value knowledge to round numbers to the nearest ten through to the nearest hundred thousand with this set of 20 task cards.
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I Have, Who Has – Rounding to 500 000
Use this engaging maths game to practise rounding numbers through 500 000 with your students.
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Tens Number, Word and MAB Block Posters - V2
Posters showing numbers going up in tens.
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Composite Numbers - Assorted Backgrounds
Composite numbers displayed on a hundreds board.
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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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Ordinal Number Word Search with Solution
A fun word search to help your students learn ordinal numbers.
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Numbat Nelly's Number Making Challenge Booklet
A fun activity to use in the classroom for students to share their knowledge of numbers from 0 to 10.
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Colourful Tens Frames
Print a colourful set of tens frames to enhance your small group maths lessons.
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Classroom Number Display — Introducing the Numbers 1–10
Create an individualised number classroom display for the numbers 1–10 with this back-to-school resource.
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Real World Applications of Positive and Negative Numbers – Worksheet
Use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world scenarios with this worksheet.
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Counting Objects Board Game – Numbers 1–5
Practise basic math skills with a counting objects board game.
- Number Sense Worksheets
- Number Sense Games
- Number Sense Posters
- 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