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
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
Ice Cream Addition Activity
A cute ice cream-themed addition activity.
- Plus Plan
Number 1 - 30 Egg Flip Game
Numbers 1 - 30 in numerals and words on frying 'eggs' to help students with number recognition.
- Plus Plan
Number Worksheet - 9
An activity worksheet to use in the classroom when learning about 9.
- Plus Plan
1 to 20 Number Match-Up Cards (MAB, Quantities, Digits, Tallies, Tens Frames and Words)
A match-up activity to help students identify different representations of the numbers 1 to 20.
- Plus Plan
1 to 20 Number Match-Up Puzzles
A set of 20 match-up puzzles to help students identify the numbers from 1 to 20.
- Plus Plan
Train Carriage Card Game
Use the train and a deck of cards to consolidate students' knowledge of number sequencing.
- Plus Plan
Number Matching Puzzle - Division
A hands-on game to play when learning about dividing numbers.
- Plus Plan
Numbers 0–10 Bingo
32 different bingo cards for numbers 0–10.
- Plus Plan
Roman Numeral Sign 1 - 10,000
Roman numerals can be difficult to learn and retain. Use this poster as a visual stimulus in your classroom.
- Plus Plan
1-100 Number Flashcards Popsicle Sticks Blocks
Use these flashcards when learning about numbers and words.
- Plus Plan
Halloween Comparing Numbers Worksheet - Ten Frames
Model and compare numbers to twenty using ten frames with a fun and engaging Halloween maths worksheet.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Ten is a Match! - Memory-Style Game
Practise matching rainbow facts, or two numbers that add up to 10, with this set of 24 number cards.
- Plus Plan
Pop Art Products - Basketball Colour By Number Worksheet
Bring some pop art into the classroom with a multiplication colour-by-number worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Counting Objects Board Game – Numbers 1–5
Practise basic math skills with a counting objects board game.
- Plus Plan
Rounding to the Nearest Ten - Interactive Activity
Practise rounding two-digit numbers to the nearest ten with this interactive Google Slides activity.
- Plus Plan
Comparing Three-digit Numbers – Worksheet
Practise comparing three-digit numbers with this hands-on worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Pizza Counting Activity - Subitising Template
A fun match-up pizza activity to learn about subitising.
- Plus Plan
Number Hunt Description Cards
A set of 32 task cards that have students use their knowledge of place value to find specific numbers.
- Plus Plan
Alien Counting Activity
Ideal to use in the classroom when learning how to count small sets of objects.
- Plus Plan
Number Talks - Near, Far, and in Between Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
- Plus Plan
Number Talks - How Many Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
- Plus Plan
1 to 20 Car Park Number Match
A car park themed number matching activity to use in the classroom when identifying the numbers from 1 to 20.
- Plus Plan
Alien Eyes - Number Game
A fun alien themed number game to help students identify the number from 1 to 12 and count small collections.
- Plus Plan
Fish Bowl Number Cards - 1 to 20
A set of fish themed number cards for students to sequence from 1 to 20.
- Plus Plan
Numbers in Our Environment - Recording Worksheet
A place value worksheet for younger students to use when identifying and recording numbers in their environment.
- Plus Plan
Tens Frames – 0 To 10 Platypus Theme
0 to 10 tens frames including the numerical and written form of the number, along with its tens frame representation.
- Plus Plan
Hundreds Number, Word and MAB Block Posters
Posters showing numbers going up in hundreds.
- Plus Plan
Maths Activity Ideas for Parents - Place Value
An information sheet for parents or carers to use when assisting children with place value at home.
- Plus Plan
Number and Dot Value Cards BW
Number and Dot Value Cards from 1-20.
- Plus Plan
Reading Colours Ordinal Numbers Worksheet
Consolidate reading colours and ordinal numbers with this worksheet.
- 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