Cool Off With This Free Place Value Activity

Are you looking for more tools for teaching place value for three-digit numbers? Are you wondering how to help your students make explicit connections between the standard, expanded, and word forms of numbers?

Here’s a free activity to bolster your second and third graders’ understanding of place value concepts. The popsicle clipart provides a perfect way to show the relationships between the expanded, standard, and word forms of each digit in a three-digit number.

How Can I Use This Place Value Activity to Meet My Students’ Needs?

This activity is ideal for providing instructional support in your guided, intervention, or resource math groups. Add base ten blocks, as needed, to facilitate concrete understanding.

Demonstrate how to match the digit cards to a number card and place them on the digit helper mat. Show and label for your students each component on the digit cards: the value, the digit, and the number words. Provide the opportunity for guided practice.

It can also be used as a math station for more independent learners. Students needing less support can simply use the popsicle number cards to complete the recording sheet.

How to Prepare Place Value Popsicles

Decide how many sets you need. A small group of students can share one set by taking turns. You can also make multiple sets.
Print the popsicle digit cards, the popsicle number cards, and the digit helper mat. Use card stock and laminate for durability. Cut the cards, as popsicles or rectangles.
Make copies of the recording sheet.