Contributor:
Krissie Williams
This number line game can be used for all ages, depending on the size / difficulty of the numbers.
Set up a washing line across the room. If it goes across the children’s heads, it will make it much more fun for them, and they will all participate!
Hand round numbers to as many children as possible (have more than one set so the cycle can be repeated with those who didn’t have a go the first time).
The teacher should then say a two or three-digit number (or larger if appropriate) and challenge pupils to put numbers on the washing line in the right order. This is a fun and easy way to practice numbers.
W Tebbatt has suggested an extension to this idea… “I teach three classes of ascending ages ‘on the bounce’, and the number line was still up in the room when the second class arrived. We mixed up the numbers and timed how long it took the kids to solve the muddle. When the eldest class came in, I challenged them to put the numbers in the correct order, but they could only swap two numbers at a time. A quick and easy way to introduce bubble sorting.”