Ways to Play with the Acrylic Hundreds Board™

Now that students are back to school and homeschool families are working hard through their home-learning curriculums, caregivers and teachers are on the hunt to find ways to make math and numeracy lessons fun for kids.

As a former elementary teacher, I love Hundreds Charts! Exposing pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade students to a number chart is so great to help them become familiar with these early learning concepts.  Kids can see rows of ten easily which reinforces the understanding of place value and really pushes children to observe patterns of ten both vertically and horizontally.  It can even help more advanced math students with skip counting, multiplication, and higher level thinking.

Ways to Play

 Check out these fun ways to play with the Acrylic Hundreds Board™!

 Challenge: Skip Counting

Pair with Grapat Loose Parts (or any loose parts you have on hand) for a wide range of math activities.  Cover all the multiples of 2 with yellow pieces, use a red piece to cover the multiples of 10, etc.  Allow your child to work through finding all the multiples on the board and cover those numbers with colorful Grapat pieces or loose parts.

Challenge: Mystery Numbers

You cover various numbers with a colorful loose part.  Have your child guess what the number underneath could be without lifting up the piece.  Great for number fluency and problem solving skills. 

Challenge: Posting Slot

Posting is great for working on spatial awareness, problem solving, and fine motor strength.   ⅛” coins will post right through the slot on the Hundreds Board™.  If you don’t have loose parts you can always cut paper squares.  1”x1” paper boxes are a great size to work with.  Ask your child to cover all of the teen numbers using the paper squares or coins.  If using paper, ask them to write the numbers on the pieces of paper so they are challenged to do a number writing activity. When they are finished they can post them through the bottom slot to incorporate some fine motor skills.

The versatility of this Creative Learning Board™ allows for wet or dry play. In addition to using loose parts or paper, you can use play dough rolled into balls or shapes. 

You can also use dry erase markers (Washable Crayola markers work best!) to trace over the numbers on the Acrylic Hundreds Board™. We intentionally engraved all the numbers and lines on the back side of the board, so the front side of the board is completely smooth for writing!

We have selected an intentional font that aligns with correctly formed handwritten numbers. As a former teacher, I believe it is so important for children to learn the proper way to write and form their numbers from the start! When you add a writing tool alongside this Creative Learning Board™, not only is your child practicing a handwriting and number formation, but a wide range of number skills!  A win, win in our book :)

Which of these activities is your favorite?  Share in the comments below!