Unifix Cubes Addition Game {Counting Cubes Activity}
Unifix cubes are a great hands on way to practice math. You may also know these little colored blocks as counting cubes, linking cubes, snap cubes, etc.
In this activity called grab bag addition kids will pull out cubes until they reach a target number, then do the math. Then, they can repeat the process to see how a number can be made in different ways.
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I used this game with both of my daughters as part of learning addition. We practiced addition in as many ways as I could think of to give them a strong foundation.
Using the cubes in this game they can continue practicing that one to one correspondence when counting, easily add together the two groups to get the total, and begin seeing that there are different ways to make the same number.
I would say this activity is best for kindergarten or first grade. I used it in kindergarten with both of my kids.
Supplies
- Printable worksheets
- Unifix cubes (10 each of 2 different colors)
- Crayons, markers, or dry erase markers in the same 2 colors as the cubes.
- Bag or box for kids to draw cubes from
- Optional: Plastic sheet protectors.
You’ll see in many of my photos I’m using 2 different shades of green as my children apparently wandered off with some of my cubes. But, it still worked fine for my youngest.
Directions
Before you get started there is one page in the printable that’s a sort of larger version of the worksheet. This can be used to demonstrate how it’s done by drawing blocks and placing them in each row.
The actual worksheet has them color in a smaller version of the cubes or else this activity would need an entire sheet for each number you wanted to solve for.
1 – Kids will each need a worksheet or, if you’re doing this in a classroom setting, they can work in teams. This would also make a great math center activity.
If you want to be able to reuse the worksheets you can place them inside a sheet protector and use dry erase markers. If not they can use crayons or markers.
2 – You can let the kids pull cards to figure out what number they are going to target or you can just write 4 numbers in on the worksheet.
I recommend using numbers 5-10 so they have more to work with but you can start as low as the number 1 if the kids already know the concept of zero.
3 – Once they have a target number, a child reaches into the bag that contains all 20 cubes (10 each of 2 colors). They pull out blocks one at a time until they have the target number.
4 – Next, color in the blocks in one row of the worksheet. Color the number of blocks that matches how many you took from the bag.
5 – Now fill in the equation to get the addition problem.
6 – Repeat the process again with the same target number. Now kids can see that different combinations can make the same total. (They may sometimes get the same exact blocks twice since it’s a random draw.)
7 – Repeat for the next target number until the page is full or the child gets bored.
Get the Printable
This activity prints on regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper. There are two worksheets, the example page and then the regular worksheet that you can use for all the different numbers.
Learning Opportunities
Oftentimes I give a general idea of learning opportunities for a craft or activity but this time I’ve listed specific standards that this activity meets/teaches.
Represent equations with objects
Manipulatives are great for little learners. In this activity they are using the unfix cubes to help them visualize the math equations.
They can clearly see that joining together say the brown group and the green group equals the total number.
Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way
By completing the activity twice for each number they are finding various ways to make a number. For example they may see that 3 + 2 = 5 and 4 + 1 = 5 as well.
For more math fun check out our Counting Bears Activities.
