About Bead Counting
Before a child can work with numbers as symbols, they need to handle them as quantities. Threading beads onto a rod to reach a target gives a child something to move and count, and the physical action of placing each bead supports the one-to-one counting that abstract exercises assume is already there.
What this game teaches
- One-to-one correspondence when counting
- Counting up to a target and stopping at the right place
- Recognising a written numeral and producing that quantity
- Counting on from a partial amount rather than restarting
- Building a stable sense of small quantities
How to play
- A target number appears.
- Move beads from the bowl onto the rod one at a time.
- Count as you go until the rod matches the target.
- Ten levels increase the target quantity.
Before you start
A child should be able to say the number words in order to ten. Matching those words to objects is what the game builds.
For teachers
Watch for children who count the beads twice or skip one - that is the fundamental counting skill and it needs to be secure before anything else. The physical bead frame does the same job and should be used alongside this.
For parents
Count real objects together constantly - steps, spoons, buttons. Counting on a screen supports counting in the world; it does not replace it.
Related games
- Time Recognition Game — Class 2-5
- Cross Addition Puzzle — Class 3-6
- 1 to 100 Digits — Class 1-4