Choosing Hands-On Math Manipulatives

Here is practical help to select math manipulatives for your hands-on learner.

Curriculum Review by Harriet Yoder

Purchase or Improvise?

You can Improvise
Homeschoolers are known for improvising hands-on math manipulatives! You don't have to purchase plastic money because you can use real money to teach your children about dollars and cents. Bowls and different types of dried beans make great counters and sorters. Need a clock? Use a real one! You can find cheap used wind-up clocks at garage sales. Stoves, microwaves, and even coffeepots have digital clocks. Our 10-year-old son programmed the time into the coffeepot and set our coffee to brew this morning! And yes, that counts as school!

Sometimes It's Easier to Purchase Manipulatives
However, sometimes you need a real hands-on math manipulative set to help your student see the math concept. The sets on this page were chosen with you in mind. They are educational, practical, durable, and reasonably priced. We used most of these with our children, who usually turn a math experience into an educational fun time.

Cuisinaire® Rods
These are probably the most popular math manipulatives. For just about any math curriculum (especially Miquon Math), you'll find the Cuisinaire® Rods Wooden Introductory Set useful to teach number relationships.

Critical Thinking Manipulatives
Commonly used in many math programs is the linking Snap Cubes® Set of 100. Another set that is called for in math critical thinking curriculum is the Relational Attribute Blocks Set.

Manipulatives for Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
If your student needs help to visualize fractions, the Rainbow Fraction Tiles Activity Set is a good choice. Decimal Tiles and Percent Tiles are also available in the Rainbow Fractions® series.

Place Value Manipulatives
Base Ten Blocks are a great way to visually teach place value. In addition, the Place Value Rods Activity Set is very visual and hands-on.

Saxon Math Manipulatives Kit for K-3
Finally there's the Saxon Math Manipulatives Kit for K-3 which was designed for the Saxon Math program but is adaptable for any math curriculum for grades K to 3.