Manipulatives in Math

Manipulatives are important in teaching math concepts because they make math fun and enjoyable for students. Manipulatives also get a chance for students to get away from their desks and textbooks for a little while. Manipulatives are also important because they provide students an outlet for social learning since students can use manipulatives together. Manipluatives are great for students at all levels. Lower level students can learn skills with manipulatives and higher level students can reinforce and master skills with the help of manipulatives. Manipulatives makes concepts easier for students to understand, and they're not a source of stress or anxiety for students. Manipulatives such as blocks and counters can help students develop there fine motor skills since students have to pick up, move, and arrange the blocks. Students can use play money to help students learn real world examples of consumerism. Teachers can have students figure out measurements for recipies to make at home. Students can figure out the amount of ingredients needed for the number of people eating.

Students can stand next to each other and measure each other to learn concepts like short, tallest, taller, etc. Students can take a walk around to school to learn concepts like feet, inches, yards, and other measuring terms. There are many other ways to have students use real world examples to learn math but these are the ones I could come up with off the top of my head.