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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Rounding Task Cards (Numbers to 100 000)
Use place value knowledge and vertical number lines to round numbers up through the hundred thousands place with a set of 24 task cards.
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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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Understanding Exponents – Task Cards
Practise rewriting, comparing and evaluating expressions with exponents with this set of task cards.
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Comparing Two Digit Numbers — Clash Game for Year 1
Practise comparing two-digit numbers with the help of this year 1 board game.
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Subitise Battle – Card Game
Quickly subitise and compare with this fast-paced card game.
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Comparing Three-digit Numbers – Worksheet
Practise comparing three-digit numbers with this hands-on worksheet.
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Colour by Number - Numbers 0-9
An engaging activity to consolidate your students’ recognition of one-digit numbers.
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Subitise to 10 Task Cards — Number Talks
Help your students subitise to 10 and beyond with these number talk task cards.
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Number Talks - Building Numbers Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Number Talks - Near, Far, and in Between Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Counting Crocodiles - Numbers 1 to 10 Worksheet
A crocodile themed place value worksheet to use when identifying and counting numbers from 1 to 10.
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Numbers 1 - 20 Representation Matching Cards
Practise representing the numbers 1 - 20 with your students using these matching cards that enable them to engage with numbers in six different formats.
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Ordinal Numbers Poster - 1st to 10th
1st to 10th ordinal numbers on one page.
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1 to 20 Number Match-Up Puzzles
A set of 20 match-up puzzles to help students identify the numbers from 1 to 20.
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Zero to Thirty Posters
A set of posters showing numbers 0 - 30.
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0-20 Number and Word Posters - BW
Posters showing numbers and words from 0-20.
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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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Identifying Numbers Teaching Slides
A 12 page editable presentation to use when teaching number recognition to younger students.
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Cover Up! — Subitising Numbers Game
Use this subitising game to help your students instantly recognise the numbers 1 - 6.
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Paralympic Games Count and Colour Worksheets
Count and tally Paralympic icons with our engaging I Spy Worksheets, which are perfect for enhancing your students' observation and counting skills.
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Alien-Themed Counting Worksheet
Use these alien-themed counting worksheets to help your students count quantities between 1 and 10.
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Counting Picture Puzzle Numbers 6-10
Practise counting 6 to 10 objects and matching groups to numbers through this 15-piece picnic scene picture puzzle
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Counting to 20 Match-Up Cards
Count objects up to 20 with our match-up card game.
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Counting to 10 Partner Games
Play games and practise counting to 10 with these fun partner game templates.
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Monster Counting Mats Numbers 1-10
Count monster eyes up to 10 with this fun counting activity for the early years classroom.
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Build a Pizza Counting Interactive Activity
Build a pizza by using counting skills with this fun interactive game.
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Counting to 10 Interactive Task Cards
Count groups of aliens up to 10 with this set of fun and engaging interactive counting task cards.
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I Can Count to 10 Mini Book
Practise counting small objects up to 10 with this student counting mini book.
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Aliens in a Spaceship Counting Game (1-6)
Practise counting with this fun aliens in a spaceship counting game.
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Bugs in a Jar Counting Activity
Practise counting to 20 with this engaging and hands-on bugs in a jar activity set.
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Counting Objects Dominoes Numbers 11–20
Practise counting objects by matching 28 numeral and picture dominoes.
- 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