Snowball Place Value Activity

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Learn about tens and ones in a fun, hands-on way with this free Snowball Place Value Activity! Your students will love practicing place value this winter with “snowballs!” This activity is perfect for math centers in Kindergarten to learn about teen numbers, or in 1st grade to strengthen place value skills!

*Pair this with our Winter Centers and Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten!

Snowball Place Value Activity

This engaging winter-themed math activity is super easy to prep with just a few simple supplies!

What you will need:

• Cotton balls or white pom poms
• Small buckets (any small containers will work!)
• White circles cut from cardboard or cardstock
• Marker

To prep, write a T for tens and a U for units (or an O for ones) on two of the white circles.

Number the rest of the circles with two-digit numbers. We just went up to 39, though you could, of course, go as high as you choose.

You can even have a huge bucket for hundreds if you want to include that and have that many cotton balls.

RELATED RESOURCE: January Math and Literacy Clip Cards for Kindergarten

How to Play

Each bucket holds 10 “snowballs” representing the Tens Place in a number and the units (or ones) are simply added next to the bucket in the Units Place.

Let the child choose the number from the pile. Then ask, “How many snowballs will you need in the Tens Place? How many snowballs will you need in the Units Place?”

For the number 27, for example, there are two tens and seven units. Count out the snowballs and put them in the right place. Choose another number and repeat.

Children starting to learn the concept of place value will find this snowball activity helpful because it physically demonstrates the concept of the Tens being together and the Units separate.

This is a great math activity, and perfect for those learners that need to see, feel, and experience a concept to fully comprehend it. And, it is super fun too!

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Nadia

Nadia is a South African mom to two littles, a former preschool teacher, and currently working as a reading therapist at a remedial school. She blogs over at Teach me Mommy about easy and playful activities inspiring you to be your child's first teacher. You can see more of her ideas on Pinterest and Instagram.

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