Place Value Activities & Printables
Teaching Place Value can be made easy with these FREE Place Value Activities & Printables! Your student will find learning this concept easy with place value challenges, hands-on activities, games, printables, and videos. Be sure to check out our other elementary math resources here.
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How to Use the Place Value Activities & Printables
Below you will find a number of Place Value Activities & Printables. I have put them in the order that I think makes the most sense in terms of teaching place value to your students. Personally, the Count the Beans activity is the best one for the introduction of place value. After that you can work in the printables and then the Place Value Mat games.
Count the Beans - Place Value
The “Count the Beans” mat is a hands-on way to learn place value. I love the versatility it provides. You can use this place value tool to count whole numbers up to 59. It allows students to be using their hands while actively learning. Students get great practice and it is easy to see the number when the beans are dividing into tens and ones. This activity is a stellar introductory activity. I have never had a child not enjoy this activity. It is almost like a game to them.
First Step- Make Your Tens of Beans
What a fun way to learn the basics of place value. All my kids loved this activity. When starting to learn about place value, we use an activity called, “Count the Beans.” The student takes 10 beans and glues them onto a big craft stick. Each craft stick represents a 10. I have my student make 10 craft sticks so that we can practice counting by tens. Loose beans are used to represent the ones.
After practicing skip counting, we then practice place value using the “Count the Beans” mat below.
Second Step- Prepare your Count the Beans Board
After printing your “Count the Beans” mat, you will need to laminate it. This is because you will be writing a 2 digit number up to 59 in the bottom right square using a dry erase marker every time your child counts the beans. To get started, you will give your student a card with a number on it. For example, write the number 19 on an index card and go over it with them. This number would require the student to put 1 craft stick (ten) and 9 loose beans (ones) on the mat. The student would then write the number in the square.
Place Value Charts
There are three different levels of Place Value Charts in this set. Be sure to check them out on the image. The simplest of the three shows only ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. One of our charts goes into showing the place value up to millions and another ventures into both sides of the decimal showing the ten thousandths.
Place Value Worksheets
You will find 8 FREE Place Value Worksheets in this set. I actually put the worksheets in order for how I intended them to be used. The first one starts with the basics of tens being added to ones. There are different approaches to the same concept leading your student to grasp the hundreds, tens, and then ones. You can use these worksheets along with the other resources making a layered lesson of learning.
Place Value Mats & Game
This activity can be used 2 different ways. For the first, you need to print the numbers and place value game mats. Personally, I cut the numbers and laminate them and the boards for durability. Before playing the second game with my child, I start by teaching them this one first.
Place Value Game with Cards
Start by letting your student pick out three numbers from the ones cut out. Next, ask them to make the biggest number they can by placing the numbers in whatever order they think to on the hundreds place value mat. For example, with the numbers, 3, 5, and 1, you could make 531 by placing the greatest number to the far left and then the next and so forth. Practice this a lot. Then move onto the place value mat that has thousands. Practice this until mastered.
Place Value Game with Die
The second game involves a die and 2 of the same types of place value mats laminated. You and your student will take turns rolling the die. Every time you roll, you must choose where the number will go on your place value sheet. We love to use the die that you can write on so that your student can work with numbers up to 9. So, if you rolled a 1 on your first turn, you would want to write 1 in the ones column, not in the hundreds column. When playing this game, we write on our sheets with dry erase markers. Your goal is to create the greatest number. It is tricky at first, but eventually the student catches on. You may need to guide them until the light bulb goes off! The student’s goal is create a greater number than his teacher! We usually do the best out 2 out of 3 games!
Place Value Video
Homeschool Pop provides students with important information in a way that is interesting for kids. Some students will find it helpful, some still may find it difficult to watch all the way through. This is especially true for students that are not math inclined. I still find that hands-on activities are the way to go when teaching place value.
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