Virtual Math Manipulatives

Math Man from ABC Ya

Math manipulatives have been a popular way to engage elementary students and even upper grade levels while teaching math skills for as long as I can recall. When I was a child, we used colorful, plastic bears for counting and the other day I stumbled upon them – except they weren’t in a bucket, they were on my computer screen.

Buckets of bears, tiles, candy pieces (yes, we 

love edible manipulatives) and foam block pieces (like the 50 packs you can find at the Dollar Tree stores) are all great aids for teaching

basic as well as more advanced math skills to your child. They’re especially helpful to visual and hands on learners. Still, there is the need to store them, the space they can take up and not to mention the irritating loss of pieces. That’s why virtual math manipulatives seem like a genius idea and I’m excited to have stumbled upon them and to share them with you today!

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives offers an array of math manipulatives you can download or use right online. Students from grades k-12 can practice counting with virtual money, tell time with on screen clocks, graph, sort chips, explore mazes, utilize charts and choose from categories ranging from numbers and operations to algebra to data analysis and probability.

ABC Ya is another site where you’ll find fun fraction tiles for students in grades 3-5, virtual fish and marbles to count, virtual houses to build with shapes for younger learners and much more. This site also offers games and apps to take the educational fun with you while on the go.

Finally, Virtual Manulatives is a website with a user friendly interface that’s about as close to real hand held manipulatives as you can get on your computer. This was the first site I found and it’s a favorite of my children. Why? Because it is so easy to navigate and provides interesting storyboards, game boards and workmats to use with the provided manipulatives. My daughters used the colorful bears against a whiteboard and the pen tool to create math symbols to perform equations. We also played math games, rolling virtual die and moving game pieces as well as placing the bears on themed storyboards (like a farm scene and a beach background) for added fun.

So, have you used math manipulatives of any kind? How have you used them and have they helped your child?

Del Kroemer

Del Kroemer is the blessed mama of 3 beautiful and busy little girls, the wife of one big hearted husband and happily homeschooling while working from home as a writer. She is currently working on a new blog focused on being devoted to seeking God’s truth and wisdom in homeschooling, homemaking and thriving in this temporary home!

Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!