Love Heart Number Line

Adam has always had a love for numbers but recently he has discovered the joy of addition. I decided to introduce him to the concept of adding using a number line. Whilst shopping at Flying Tiger I spotted some heart washi tape and two heart dice. With Valentines Day around the corner I had the perfect resources to make a Love Heart Number Line.

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Resources needed to make a Love Heart Number Line.

* Heart Washi Tape. I purchased ours from Flying Tiger but found something similar to this on Amazon

* Whiteboard with Pen and Eraser Pad

* Two heart dice – ours were purchased from Flying Tiger but these are similar from Amazon

* Washi Tape Dispenser (optional). We fell in love with a camera shaped tape dispenser from Flying Tiger. It is small and light and Adam is able to use it independently.

How to set up the Love Heart Number Line

1. Cut twelve hearts from the washi tape and stick it towards the bottom of the whiteboard.

2. Write the numbers 1 to 12 underneath the hearts using a whiteboard pen.

How to play with the Love Hearts Number Line

1. Roll the two heart shaped dice to find out which numbers will be adding together.

2. Using the whiteboard pen, write the number sentence underneath. If you child needs further support you could write the + and = symbols already for them.

3. Get your little one to place the whiteboard pen on the first dice number – in this case number 5. Then hop the amount of times indicated on the second dice. In the example below Adam had to start on number 5, hop four hearts along to find the answer 9. He then wrote the answer at the end of the number sentence.

4. Use the whiteboard eraser to rub out the addition sentence and hops in order to start the activity again.

I knew Adam would be interested in the activity but I hadn’t realised just how much he would love the independence the activity gave him. He spent 45 minutes making up his own number sentences using the two dice, writing the numbers independently and using the hearts to work out the number sentence. Watch Adam in action:

When I originally planned the activity I had thought that the washi tape would get dirty pretty quickly. For this reason I left out the camera style tape dispenser thinking Adam would need to use it frequently. However, after 45 minutes of play the heart tape looked like new. The whiteboard marker pen was easy to wipe off the tape.

The next day Adam asked if he could use the Love Heart Number Line activity again. I showed him how he could make his own heart number line whenever he wanted. He could count along 12 hearts, cut the washi tape, place it on the white board and write the numbers himself underneath. I love activities that promote independent learning.

I have future plans for our Love Heart Number Line. By adjusting the numbers written underneath the hearts I will be able to use the number line to teach Adam how to add on in 2’s, 5’s, 10’s as well as practicing simple subtraction sentences. I will no doubt be on the look out for other washi tape designs too!