DIY Math Counters (All About Altoids- post 4)

I'm back with more ideas of stuff to put in an Altoid Tins.  I've made these DIY math counters in preparation for next school year, when Dragonfly will be in Kindergarten.  Just a warning, this is going to be a very picture heavy post.

This was a very easy DIY.  The tin is filled with glass stones, which can be used to represent fish bubbles in a themed counting game.

Dragonfly won't be ready for this level of counting practice for a while, but I have the tin all ready for her when she is wanting to count in groups.  The bee hives and bees are buttons.  There are 25 bees and 5 hives.  They store very well in an altoid tin.

I made these candy counters to go with my candy graphing and patterning worksheets and the roll and cover game.  I modge podged the printed circles (included in the printable) onto one inch wood circles (Etsy).

I realized when I took this picture that I don't have ten monster.  I know that I have more monster buttons somewhere- I just need to add some more to the tin.  They'll be a fun addition to our homeschool math work.

Simple- just add pirate coins for counters.

These bead rods can be used for counting by 10's to 100.  The pony beads are hot glued on a dowel rod.  I also included a few loose beads for counting and converting to and from ten.

Sheep buttons make good counters for a 10-frame.

Snowflake buttons also make good math counters.  Perfect for winter activities.

A study of the universe or the stars requires some fun glow in the dark counters.  I also saw this great idea to use black lights in writing practice.

When we study the USA or are doing math work near an American holiday, we can use these flag toothpicks to count.  It would be a great thing for counting to 50, since each flag could represent a state in the union.

Very, very simple counters.  They're wood stars dumped in a tin.  There are 50 of them, so they could also represent US states.  As starfish, they're fun for a study of the ocean or a theme unit on the beach.

Well, now you've seen how nerdy I am.  What are your favorite math manipulatives?  Please tell us in the comments.

{All About Altoids Posts}
- Altoid Tins for Travel
- Homeschooling Games
- Math Games
- Math Counters