Bring math outside with this easy lesson to teach tally marks to kids using sticks found in your backyard. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to practice math. My kids love bringing our classroom outdoors for this lesson.
You may even find that they start to tally on their own during recess or playtime.
Math can be more than just worksheets and pencils. By taking your math lessons outside, you can help your kids see the subject in a new, fun light! One of my favorite outdoor math activities is teaching tally marks using sticks. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to practice basic counting skills, all while getting some fresh air and moving around.
Teach Tally Marks, An Outdoor Math Lesson with Sticks
Learning Objectives:
The child will make a set of tally marks to represent a given number.
The child will make and use tally marks to count by 5 to 100.
Ages: 3-7
Tally: Means to use a mark to record counting. You may use the tally method to count, or to solve addition or word problems.
Materials Needed to Teach Tally Marks with Sticks
Found sticks of similar width.
Directions for Teaching Tally Marks
- Break the sticks into similar lengths. Ours were around 6 inches long. Make at least 100 sticks of the same size. This may sound like a lot, but it took 2 kids less than 10 minutes to collect and break ours. These sticks will be used as tally marks for this activity.
- Use a stone or driveway as your work station. We tried making tally marks on the rocks and grass, but they were harder to see. A flat surface was much easier to make and count on.
- Explain to your child that a tally is a way to mark or record your counting. Today, we are making tally marks using our sticks.
- Demonstrate how to place 1, 2, 3, 4 sticks straight up and the 5th at a diagonal.
- Encourage your child to practice building sets of 5 tally marks.
- When they become familiar with building the sets of 5, then use those sets to count by 5’s to 100 (or however many tally mark sticks you made in step 1). We didn’t quite have enough to make 100 on our first try, so the kids stopped tallying for a minute and gathered more sticks.
- After you reach 100 mix all the tally sticks together. Call out a number and have your child build that number with tally marks. Have them count out loud as they point to their sets to demonstrate an understanding. When the number has been made, place all the sticks back in the pile and call out another number. Example. 18. For the number 18, children would build 5 sets of 5 tally marks each with 4 sticks down and 1 diagonal. Then place an additional 3 sticks next to the set. See image.
Why Outdoor Math?
Outdoor math lessons like this one provide kids with a break from their usual classroom setting. They can engage their bodies while learning, which is great for kinesthetic learners. Also, taking the classroom outside adds excitement to what might otherwise be a standard math lesson. My kids love the fresh air and freedom to explore while they learn. In fact, I’ve even caught them creating tally marks during playtime, turning this lesson into a natural part of their day.
Benefits of Tally Marks:
- Simplicity: It’s a quick and easy way to count, especially for younger children who are learning numbers.
- Reinforces Grouping: Tally marks teach children how to group numbers, which is foundational for learning multiplication and other math operations.
- Hands-on Learning: Using sticks adds a sensory element to the activity, engaging kids’ hands and minds at the same time.
Bringing math outside doesn’t need to be complicated. With just a few sticks and a little imagination, you can turn your backyard into a classroom and have your kids learning without even realizing it!
You may also enjoy these nature inspired activities for kids
- Easy Stick Crafts for Kids from Thimble and Twig
- Engineering Mud Bricks from Munchkins and Moms
- Giant Sized Rhyming Memory Game from Growing Book by Book
- Simple Outdoor Number Activities from Fun-A-Day
- Building Math Concepts with Nature, Numbers 0-10
- Acorn Math Game for Kids
- Take a Texture Walk
- What Does 10 Look Like?
- Chalk Numbers with Leaves
- Sand Art Project
- Fall Leaf STEM Challenge
- Fall Leaf Movement Activity
- Making Natural Playscapes for Kids
- Building Your Child’s Imagination Outside
- Outdoor Music Ideas
- Sidewalk Chalk Activities for Kids
- The Importance of Outside Play
- Solar Energy Science Experiments
- Backyard Activities for Kids
- Exploring Nature Walking Home from School
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- Marble Paint with Acorns
- Math Game with Acorns
- Acorn Alphabet Sensory Jar Game
Your child may also enjoy these activities…
What a great way to use nature for learning.
Finally, something to do with the hundreds of sticks my child collects wherever we go! Now if I can just convince him to leave the sticks outside instead of stuck in our couch.
What a great idea! Off to find small branches we can use for this!
What a fun way to teach counting by 5’s! I also love your idea of calling out a number and having the children build it in tally marks.