The Value of Games

How do children develop subitizing skills? When I was a child, before video games, cell phones, and an abundance of television options, we played board games. Candy Land, Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Trouble, and Life were some of the games that gave us opportunities to develop our math skills from counting and one-to-one correspondence to counting and exchanging money.

Games that involved dice, playing cards, and dominoes strengthen the ability to subitize. Subitizing is being able to identify a small quantity without counting.  

My sisters and I also played jacks. Subitizing allowed us to find “twosies” and  “sevensies” without counting. Understanding of number is developed as students learn to subitize.

Subitizing in the Classroom

With all the digital options to occupy children’s time, games like these aren’t as much a part of childhood as they once were. Over the last several years, subitizing has made its way into primary classrooms. Teachers are providing experiences with subitizing and opportunities to practice the skill. You might hear a teacher ask “How did you know that was a five?” and a student respond “I subitized,” or “I saw a two and a three.”

Recognizing small numbers of objects, usually up to 4 or 5, instantly, such as on a die, is perceptual subitizing. Conceptual subitizing, on the other hand, is recognizing smaller subgroups and combining them. When dots are arranged in familiar patterns such as dice patterns or ten-frames, it becomes possible to subitize larger numbers.

Small paper plates are an inexpensive way to make subitizing cards. Dots can be drawn on or stickers can be used to create each set. Familiar patterned sets like those on dice are a good place to start. Adding one or two dots allows practice with counting on, while combining two smaller patterns develops conceptual subitizing skills. Give students roughly three seconds to view the cards and then ask them to share how many dots they saw. Show the card again and ask them how they saw it. One student might simply say it was like the five on a die while another may say it was a four with one more dot in the middle.

Are they really subitizing when they play?

When children have enough time to count the objects in a group, as they can when playing games, they are not subitizing. With repeated experiences with dice, cards, dominoes, and ten-frames, however, children learn the patterns and will increase their ability to recognize familiar quantities without having to count them.

Games in your math centers are one way you can provide students with opportunities to practice this important skill. Games that use dice, dominoes, or playing cards allow students to subitize while playing. You can get Roll and Cover free!

You may also like these games from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store:

• Number Bump
• First to Fill 100!
• Roll and Subitize!
• Subitizing Match-up
• Subitizing Bingo