Play “Ten and Tuck”! Ask your child to show 10 fingers. Instruct him to tuck 3 (bending downthe pinky, ring finger, and middle finger of the right hand). Ask your child how many fingers are up (7) and how many are tucked (3). Then, invite him to say the matching number sentence aloud in three ways: first, beginning with the larger part (7 + 3 = 10); then, beginning with the smaller part (3 + 7 = 10); and finally, beginning with the whole, or total (10 = 3 + 7 or 10 = 7 + 3).
Play “Missing Part to Make 10”: Use 5-group cards or homemade cards numbered 1–10. Partner A places a card against her forehead, without looking at the number on the card. Partner B tells how many more are needed to make 10. Then, Partner A guesses the number on the card. Take turns playing each role. If needed, remind your child to use fingers to help with counting on.
Encourage your child to use fingers to help visualize doubles facts. For example, to solve 3 + 3, have your child wiggle both pinky fingers and say, “two,” then wiggle both pinkies and both ring fingers and say, “four,” and finally wiggle the pinky, ring, and middle finger on each hand and say, “six.”
Play “X-Ray Vision”: Place nine counters (e.g., pennies or beans) on the floor or table next to an opaque container. Ask your child to close his eyes while you place one counter in the container. Tell your child to open his eyes. Ask, “Can you use your x-ray vision to tell how many counters are inside the container? Now say the number sentence that combines the counters inside and outside the container.” For example, “One plus eight equals nine!” Continue the game, placing counters in the container in random order (e.g., 3, 5, 2, 6, 4), until you have shown all the partners to 9.
Play “Number Bond Roll”: Use a pair of dice as parts of a number bond. Each partner rolls one die. Then each writes a number bond, addition sentence, and subtraction sentence for the two parts shown on the dice. For example, if Partner A rolls a 2 and Partner B rolls a 3, their number bonds would show 2 and 3 making 5, and their number sentences might be 2 + 3 = 5 and 5 – 3 = 2. When both partners have completed their number bonds and number sentences, they check each other’s work.
Play Break Apart Numbers. Set a timer for one minute. Have a race with your child to complete as many different number bonds for numbers 5 through 9 as possible. When the minute is up, say a matching number sentence for each bond you completed, for example, 1 + 4 = 5, 5 = 3 + 2, 5 = 5 + 0, and 5 – 1 = 4.