A Game that Teaches Greater Than and Less Than

As a teacher there are always things that I found to be really fun to teach (and some not-so-much). Teaching my students about greater than and less than was always something I enjoyed most likely because of the visual component. Here is a game I created to teach this concept. Tell me what you think!

Materials

templates

scissors

glue

Preparation

print templates

cut out the number cards

cut out the two alligators and glue them back to back

To Play

Talk to your child about what makes a number bigger than another number and what makes a number smaller than another number.
Tell him that sometimes we use the words “greater than” and “less than” when talking about two numbers.

Show your child the picture of Archie the Alligator. Explain that Archie is ALWAYS hungry and likes to eat A LOT.  If Archie is given two piles of things, he always chooses the bigger pile. If Archie is offered two numbers, he always chooses the bigger number.

Turn all the cards face down.

Have your child choose two cards and read them to you.  If needed, have your child count out the appropriate number of counters for each number to help him determine which is bigger.

• Have your child place one number in each circle. Remind him that Archie is hungry and likes to eat big numbers.  Then have him place Archie between the two circles with his open mouth facing the larger number.

“Read” the sentence with your child– “11 is greater than 9” and/or “11 is bigger than” and “9 is less than 11″ and/or 9 is smaller than 11”

Want to make it more challenging? Use multi-digit numbers or even negative numbers, but only if your child is ready!

Templates for this game are available for purchase. For more details click the link below:

A Game for Teaching Greater Than and Less Than from Boy Mama Teacher Mama

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