What is Numicon?
Numicon, developed by Oxford University Press, is a recognised evidenced-based approach to teaching maths that helps children to see connections between numbers. It is a multi-sensory way of learning, meaning children learn by seeing and feeling, learning maths through play.
The colourful physical Shapes are an important part of Numicon where children can feel what a number means, and we recommend using them alongside the digital resources. You can browse a range of Numicon resources to support learning from their website. Each hole in a Shape represents its number, so a 1-shape has one hole, a 2-shape has two holes, etc. They can be placed together to show number bonds, as well as introducing the concept of addition and subtraction.
Numicon lays the foundation of children's understanding of numbers all the way through school and provides tools to go over areas that a child may struggle with, helping them grasp math concepts and move forward. Find out more about Numicon here.