Start Here - Math Learning Supplies | Fun Math Activities for Kids

$Math Learning Supply$

HELLO! I’m glad you are here!
So this will be my ultimate resource page for FunMathActivitiesForKids. I’ll show you what you can find around here, how you can go to different article categories, and also my favorite math learning supplies, and other things I love.

PS: I will update this page as I go to add new items, and as my kids learn more topics.

In this article:

1 My Story
2 Math Categories and Topics
3 Math Learning Supplies

My Story

This is where I share why I started this website, and what I hope to do to help you. I also shared about why I think having Math skill is so important in our daily life.

Math Categories and Topics

And here are the topics I covered (will add more gradually over time):

For Preschool

All posts, go here.

For Lower Elementary

All posts, go here.

Grade 1:

Number Words
Number Bonds

Psst: If you have any other topic from 0 – Grade 2 that you want me to cover, leave a comment below!

Math Learning Supplies

This is the list of items I use frequently when teaching math to my daughters. Or generally in learning activities at home. Most of them are common office supplies which can be found in almost any stationery shop. While at the bottom I add some good-to-have math learning supplies which maybe more specific in educational supplies category, that either can be found locally or you can ordered online if you wish.

Basic writing supplies:

Blank papers. To draw, scribble, write, color, anything. Including whenever I need to print out any learning materials. I started when my eldest was in Kindergarten 2 so she preferred to have things with drawings, colors, etc, so I didn’t use much of regular lined notebook at home. Except what she needs for her school homework if any. And yes usually I keep 1-2 reams of blank papers, one ream is 70 gsm or 75 gsm paper (some manufacturers would list them as 20 lb papers for one ream – 500 sheets) for most of the working and scribbling, another with , for printables to be laminated, daily checklist etc.
Pencils. I’d suggest to buy in bulk because they’re very fast to go missing at school and in the house! For a child who just learned to hold a pencil, you may want to try a jumbo pencil or triangular pencil for easier grip.
Erasers, either the classic , or the retractable erasers. For erasers, I would recommend to use a well known brand, like Pentel, Staedtler, or Tombow. The last time I didn’t bother and choose the cheapest eraser I could get, and found it’d easily damage the paper.
Sharpener. You can choose the standard single hole sharpener, dual/2 hole sharpener, or even the desk top heavy duty electric sharpener.
Ruler, for grade 1 onward. My daughter used the usual clear plastic ruler similar to this because it’s easier to make a parallel lines (to draw number lines in math) using a clear ruler.
Coloring tools: up to you (if you have small kids, you know you can never have enough of these), it can be crayons, color pencils, markers, watercolor, color highlighter, etc. For preschooler, I love this Crayola Washable Large Crayons. For color pencils, I don’t really have a favorite, but Faber-Castell's or Crayola's colored pencils are pretty good for us.
Whiteboard, with the markers and duster. Because sometimes kids just get bored with paper works. We have one medium size office whiteboard similar to this size, and I also keep several mini dry-erase board which are handy for travelling and commuting.

DIY / Office supplies:

Scissors (for grown up). Or if you’re a teacher and needs kids-friendly scissors, you might want to consider getting this set instead, 24 5-inch kids' scissors with the caddy.
Glue (just the basic paper glue stick is fine)
Masking tape
Printer. For about two years back I survived just with a standard black & white printer. But last year it started to jam more frequently (and I had to sometimes really holding each piece of paper to make sure it went in properly), and hubby decided to buy a new replacement (Thank you Hon!). It’s bulkier, but I loooooove our HP Laserjet Pro M281fdw All in One wireless color laser printer. I can print, copy, and scan document, in colors, wireless mode even from my mobile phone. Love it love it.
Laminator. Good to make any dry-erase practice sheet, making number cards, etc. We have this Swingline GBC Thermal Laminator Machine Fusion 1000L (for laminating in A4 size only). It’s simple, small, and just works.

Math manipulative, a.k.a. counting objects:

Wooden craft stick/popsicle sticks
Building blocks (can be lego, wooden building blocks, wooden domino blocks, etc)
Math counting chips/math counters
Or other natural small objects (in similar sizes), like small rocks, beads, buttons, pompoms, etc.

Math learning tools:

Number cards. You can make your own with card stock and laminator, or get some sandpaper number cards.
Magnetic number set with operation symbols
Mathlink cubes (connecting cubes). Good for practicing basic additions and number bonds.
Base Ten frames. We have this plastic blue blocks set to learn place values. Suitable for Grade 1 onward. This is actually similar concept with Montessori golden beads unit system in teaching children about decimal systems: ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands.