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.
- Plus Plan
Number Recognition Activity Mats (Numbers 0 - 10)
Use these Number Recognition Activity Mats to give your students hands-on practise building and writing the numbers 0 - 10.
- Plus Plan
Subitising Dice - Numbers 1 to 9
Practise subitising to 9 with your students using this versatile set of dice flashcards.
- Plus Plan
Subitising Card Game
Utilise this subitising card game to reinforce number recognition and subitising skills with some friendly competition!
- Plus Plan
Alien-Themed Counting Worksheet
Use these alien-themed counting worksheets to help your students count quantities between 1 and 10.
- Plus Plan
My Life in Numbers Worksheet
Use this numbers worksheet as a means of student introductions early in a new school year.
- Plus Plan
I Can Count To Ten – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this set of counting worksheets to help your students sequence numbers from 0 to 10.
- Free Plan
Counting Crowns Numbers 1-10
Create number crowns when learning to count to ten with this set of crown templates.
- Plus Plan
Build a City Counting Game
Build towers consisting of numbers up to 10 with this fun build a city game.
- Plus Plan
Counting to 20 Task Cards
Practice counting objects up to 20 with this set of 16 task cards.
- Plus Plan
Search and Find Bowerbird Worksheets
Explore images to find and count objects for a bowerbirds nest and bowerbirds themselves.
- Plus Plan
Halloween Counting to 10 Worksheets
Count, write, and match numbers and objects with printable Halloween counting worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Autumn Counting to 10 Clip Cards
Practice counting objects with 18 autumn-themed counting to ten clip cards.
- Plus Plan
Adding and Subtracting Integers - Tarsia Puzzle
Practise adding and subtracting integers with a printable Tarsia puzzle!
- Plus Plan
Chick Counting Activity - Numbers 1-20
Practise recognising, counting and subitising numbers from 1-20 with this Easter-themed counting activity.
- Plus Plan
Number Posters
Display this set of 1-20 number posters in the classroom to encourage a knowledge and understanding of each number.
- Plus Plan
Counting Peg Cards – Dinosaurs
Practice counting objects with a set of 18 dinosaur-themed counting peg cards.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Counting to Twenty Poster - Colour - No Capitals
A poster showing numbers and words from one to twenty.
- Plus Plan
1-9 Number and Value Match-Up Worksheet
Match-up 1-9 numbers and words with this simple and easy to use worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Racing Car Ordinal Numbers 1st - 10th
Racing cars with the number and the corresponding word for each ordinal number position.
- Plus Plan
Ordinal Position Task Cards
Support early maths learning with this ordinal position activity designed to help Foundation students explore position and order through a fun, hands‑on number track task.
- Plus Plan
Ten Frame Number Posters (0-20)
Decorate your classroom with our ten frame number posters that will delight your animal-loving students while providing concrete representations of the numbers 0-20.
- Plus Plan
Number Grid Interactive Activity
Share this number grid interactive activity with your students to give them practice adding and subtracting ten and one from a given number.
- Plus Plan
Sequence Puzzle for Numbers 1-10 — Gingerbread Man
Share this sequence puzzle with your students for a fun way to practise ordering the numbers 1 - 10.
- Plus Plan
Subitising “Construct-a-City” Activity
Utilise this hands-on subitising activity to help your students learn to subitise to 5 and beyond.
- Plus Plan
Subitising Games — Leapfrog!
Play this subitising game in your classroom to help your students practise subitising small collections.
- Free Plan
Numbers in the Environment Worksheet
Practise identifying numbers in the environment with this "seek-and-find" worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Recognising Numbers 0 — 10 Bingo (Small Group)
Play this fun number recognition game with your preschool and foundation students to help them identify the numbers 0 - 10!
- Plus Plan
Counting to 20 Match-Up Cards
Count objects up to 20 with our match-up card game.
- Plus Plan
Counting to 10 Partner Games
Play games and practise counting to 10 with these fun partner game templates.
- Plus Plan
Counting to 10 Interactive Activity
Practise counting to 10 with this fun and engaging interactive activity.
- Plus Plan
Numbers 1–20 Peg Cards
Facilitate counting practise with this set of multisensory peg cards.