Dont let the name fool you - Cactus counting is more than just another counting game. Behind the desert theme sits a genuinely engaging, flexible resource, covering number recognition, positional language, simple addition and subtraction, as well as write and wipe flowers to add operations and more numbers if needed.
Built for real mixed-ability groups, this pack lets children work at completely different levels - from basic number recognition to written calculations - from the same set of tokens, on the same board.
What makes it different:
Cactus Counting is a flexible early maths activity designed with mixed-ability groups in mind.
One child may be working on number recognition, another size, another written calculations, Everyone can work on their own target while playing the same game, the only thing that needs to change is the level of instruction you give the child.
Start where the child is:
Early level - Number recognition, counting, matching numbers and quantities
Developing - More / Less, Big / Small, Biggest / Smallest, Ordering numbers
Challenge - Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division
Write and wipe - There are blank flower tokens so you can add more numbers and operations to the game.
Prepositions - The cactus scene naturally lends itself to positional language - "put the flower on the cactus" "put a flower next to it" Put the big flower behind the cactus" - building spacial vocabulary alongside maths.
Speech & Language - Every activity keeps language at its core, not just number recognition in isolation - children are describing, requesting, and using positional and mathematical vocabulary throughout, not silently just doing sums.
Ideal For:
Teaching assistants
Senco's
SEND practitioners
Speech & Language interventions
Mixed-ability groups
Small groups
One-to-one
Built for real mixed-ability groups, this pack lets children work at completely different levels - from basic number recognition to written calculations - from the same set of tokens, on the same board.
What makes it different:
Cactus Counting is a flexible early maths activity designed with mixed-ability groups in mind.
One child may be working on number recognition, another size, another written calculations, Everyone can work on their own target while playing the same game, the only thing that needs to change is the level of instruction you give the child.
Start where the child is:
Early level - Number recognition, counting, matching numbers and quantities
Developing - More / Less, Big / Small, Biggest / Smallest, Ordering numbers
Challenge - Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division
Write and wipe - There are blank flower tokens so you can add more numbers and operations to the game.
Prepositions - The cactus scene naturally lends itself to positional language - "put the flower on the cactus" "put a flower next to it" Put the big flower behind the cactus" - building spacial vocabulary alongside maths.
Speech & Language - Every activity keeps language at its core, not just number recognition in isolation - children are describing, requesting, and using positional and mathematical vocabulary throughout, not silently just doing sums.
Ideal For:
Teaching assistants
Senco's
SEND practitioners
Speech & Language interventions
Mixed-ability groups
Small groups
One-to-one