Bright Idea for Using Extra Math Manipulatives

Two math adoptions in less than 5 years combined with 21 years of teacher hoarding collecting, has left me with an abundance of math manipulatives - especially foam shapes like these:

I seriously contemplated throwing them out or trying to find a place to donate them, when I realized that I could put them to good use. I needed a quick center for my kids to practice adding 10's so instead of making matching cards with each number, then laminating, and cutting them all apart, I wrote the answers on extra foam shapes and I was done in a fraction of the time!

Besides being faster and easier for me, it's also easier for the kids to pick up and use the pieces that have a little depth to them. It's also a lot easier to spot pieces that fall on the floor. Using different colors and shapes for different boards also helps keep things organized. 

If you've got some extra shapes hanging around, give this bright idea a try! {Also works well for bottle caps if you happen to hoard collect those, too}

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