Most common math manipulatives for elementary school

Here are various math manipulatives that I think are most useful to have for elementary grades, found at Amazon:


  1. A 100-bead abacus (it has 10 beads on 10 rows). The abaci with 5 and 5 alternating color beads are the best, but a traditional one with 10 beads of the same color will also work.
    Browse Amazon's abacus collection


  2. Base ten blocks are useful for teaching the concept of place value, two-digit numbers, and three-digit numbers. Browse base ten blocks at Amazon.




  3. Another very useful manipulative is fraction tiles or fraction circles. You can make these yourself, of course, as well, from cardboard.

Other necessary manipulatives are various measuring tools, usually found at home: 

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