How to Set Up Your Math & Manipulatives Preschool Center

Fostering a strong understanding of basic math concepts is important in preschool classrooms, as these skills are the foundation for future learning. As your preschoolers engage in math focused activities and explore manipulatives, they are also working on many other skills. They are building their fine motor skills, coordination, and problem solving skills, too.

DETERMINE THE SIZE OF THE CENTER

The math and manipulatives preschool center does not necessarily need to be a large space. If you set up your math and manipulatives so that they are near the large tables used for meals and activities, then the math materials and manipulatives can be used there as well. This way only a shelf or two is needed, saving space for other centers that do require more space.

KEEP IT ORGANIZED

It is always important to keep your preschool classroom organized. In the math and manipulatives center this is very easy. Store each manipulative or math material in a clear bin with a picture label, don’t forget to include the printed name too, and place it on the shelf where the corresponding label is placed. This helps keep things neat and organized, and it also makes it easy for your preschoolers to manage clean up independently.

PROVIDE A VARIETY OF MATH MATERIALS & MANIPULATIVES

The more variety you provide in your math and manipulatives center, the more engagement you will see from your preschoolers. Make sure the manipulatives that you include are open-ended so that your preschoolers will have the freedom to use their imagination and think critically as they create. Here is a list of manipulatives your preschoolers will love.

• Pegboards
• Dice
• Tape measurer
• Rulers
• Balances
• Cash register and play money
• Counters
• Timers
• Clocks
• Dominoes
• Board games
• Playing cards

Another way to include engaging math activities in your math and manipulatives center is by creating quite bins. Quite bins are small shoebox sized bins that contain an activity meant for just one or two preschoolers to use at a time. For the math and manipulatives center include quite bins that involve sorting, building shapes, and number recognition. Here are some examples.

• Creating patterns using pompoms; use colored circle stickers to make patterns on popsicle sticks and then children use the pompoms to match and extend the pattern. Then they can build their own patterns, too.
• Tower building cards; put cards with a picture of a tower using different colored Lego or Duplo blocks and the number of blocks needed. Your preschoolers will practice counting and one-to-one correspondence.
• Create your own shape builders by putting Velcro on popsicle sticks. With these your preschoolers can create different shapes and figures.
• War card game, but with dice; this one is for two players. Each child rolls a dice and who ever has the higher number keeps the dice. Play until all of the dice are gone and whoever has the most wins!

How you set up your math and manipulatives preschool center will help you create a fun and beneficial place for your preschoolers to explore math concepts. The math and manipulatives center does double duty, too. Each activity or material helps develop math skills and many other skills, too.