Homeschool Manipulatives for Young Learners

Over our past 3+ years of homeschooling, I have tried many different manipulatives in our homeschool.  I have found that manipulatives are like books: there are several that just stand the test of time.

I’ve put together a list of five manipulatives that I consider to be must haves for my young learners.

If you’d prefer to watch the video, you can click below.  The video has much more detail of how I implement these manipulatives in our homeschool.

So if you’re looking for specifics, sit down with a cup of coffee and have a look!

Handwriting Without Tears Mix & Match Shapes

I attended a Handwriting Without Tears workshop last year that focused on the Preschool Early Learning years.  At that workshop, I discovered these wonderful foam shapes.

We use them several times each week as we talk about symmetry, angles, fractions, and more.

Pattern Blocks

Pattern Blocks – oh how we love them at the Hill House!

We use them to talk about shapes, attributes, making patterns, and counting.  My kiddos take these out over and over just to build and use their imaginations.

Math-U-See’s Manipulative Block Set

While we don’t use Math-U-See as our elementary math program, we do absolutely love their manipulative block set!

This set is the perfect way to visually see ones, tens, and hundreds.  We also use it for counting, practicing number bonds, and more.

Printable Number Cards

After writing many-a-stack of number cards, I finally made a set of number cards that I could print and laminate.

We use these cards for an assortment of math games that we play each week: counting, number bonds, adding and subtracting, and number association, to name a few.

Animal Counters

Animal Counters are used daily during our school (and play!) time.

The little girls sort, classify, and count while my older daughter uses them as counting aids for math facts.

What do you consider to be must-haves in your homeschool?  Leave your favorite goodies in the comments.

If you’d like to take a look at what other homeschool mothers consider to be must-haves, stop by iHomeschool Network.

Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill is a Christian mom to 5, ages 19 to 7. She homeschools her children in the classical education tradition and is currently in her 15th year of homeschool. She creates engaging worksheets and hands-on printable activities for Preschool and Elementary age children to supplement their daily studies.

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Homeschool Classical Education Worksheets Printable Activities