If you found counting with Numicons from one to ten helpful, then an abacus may work really well, too.

Numicon is a set of colourful shapes with holes in them representing a numeric value from 1 to 10. They provide a handy visual aid that helps children form an understanding of how numbers relate to quantities of tangible shapes and objects. Later on in their education, children will be able to use Numicon to see more complex mathematical ideas, like how two fours make eight, three twos make six, and so on. This lays the foundation for their understanding of numbers all the way through school. If your child’s school uses Numicon, they may hold workshops to tell you how it is used in the classroom, and you can always ask your child’s teacher if you have any questions. Numicon number lines show children that each number has a different value but can be made up from smaller numbers by adding them to make a new total (number bonds).

What does Numicon deliver?

Numicon is an approach to teaching maths that helps your child to see connections between numbers. From Oxford University Press, it supports your child as they learn early maths skills in nursery and primary school. It is a multi-sensory way of learning, which means your child learns by seeing and feeling. We have a selection of wonderful Numicon resources to help you teach your children. Here are just a few we think you might love: Number bonds, also known as 'number pairs', are simply the pairs of numbers that can be combined to make a given number. Teaching children about the different combinations of numbers that can be used to make numbers up to 10 gives them a solid foundation to build upon when it comes to learning about addition, subtraction, and place value. Explore our full range of Numicon resources here. And brush up on your knowledge of Numicons with our Numicon wiki. How to use these Numicon shapes to print:

This handy set of 1-20 numbers includes lots of varied visual representations for the numbers. It’s great to use for prompt cards, or as a general classroom display while teaching counting. Have fun with your child by playing the games in this kit together and help them to thrive at the maths they’re learning in school. Designed to work both brilliantly on its own and as a natural progression from the First Steps Kit, the activities and apparatus here will build your child’s understanding of numbers to 100 and their ability to use and talk about them with confidence.

If your class enjoys learning with Numicon, you'll be pleased to learn that Twinkl has teamed up with Oxford University Press to bring you a bundle of brilliant Numicon teaching resources. Here are just a few that we think would work wonderfully alongside these Numicon posters: In this way, each Numicon Shape provides children with both a physical and a visual image of a number. Because of this, children start to recognise and explore the relationship between different numbers, as they notice the difference in shape, pattern and the number of holes in each Numicon Shape. Has been proven to have a positive impact on children’s enjoyment as well as giving them the confidence to demonstrate how and why they arrived at their answer The study found that a large majority of teachers (91%) believed that Numicon 'had a positive impact on children’s mathematical learning.' In particular, it was found that teachers perceived that using Numicon had a particularly positive impact on children's problem-solving and reasoning skills. These are really great outcomes that show the advantages that Numicon can have in your classroom or learning environment.

You can also use these activities as revision activities, or to bring lessons to their close, as they can be used to help students revise and consolidate what they've learnt in a visual and interactive way. Furthermore, by introducing the competitive element of a game into an activity, you can motivate children to work harder as they will want to get more answers correct!Learning about numbers is an important lesson for children and can sometimes be an overwhelming concept when students have differing abilities. These Numicon posters also use a colour coding system. Each number from 1-10 is assigned a different colour which is then repeated all the way through to 30. This can help children to spot patterns when counting and is especially useful for developing a sense of place value within the context of tens. A recent study has indicated that Numicon shapes make highly effective teaching tools relied upon by many experienced teachers.