Collecting Buttons: Counting to 100 Play Tray is a hands-on and sensory-rich activity that makes counting to 100 fun, interactive and purposeful. Designed as part of our Teaching With Play Trays collection, this resource invites students to collect 100 colourful button cards from a sensory-filled play tray, strengthening number recognition, one-to-one correspondence and fine motor skills along the way.

Students will love digging through sand, rice, cotton wool or shredded paper to find and collect hidden buttons. As they discover each one, they colour a matching circle on their 100-frame recording sheet. This encourages careful counting and supports the development of early numeracy foundations. The tactile experience of searching through sensory materials also promotes hand-eye coordination, finger strength and persistence.

Whether you’re setting up a tuff tray for the first time or looking to expand your collection of maths-based play tray ideas, this low-prep activity will quickly become a class favourite. It’s adaptable for independent work, small group rotations, or guided exploration, and can easily be extended with graphing, sorting and addition challenges.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Practise one-to-one correspondence while counting objects to 100
• ✅ Develop number recognition through visual and tactile interaction
• ✅ Strengthen fine motor skills through grasping, colouring and collecting
• ✅ Engage in sensory play that supports focus and perseverance
• ✅ Build early maths vocabulary through teacher-led questions and discussion

What’s Included:

• Printable button cards in five colours
• 100-frame recording sheet for students to colour as they count
• Colourful tray display signs (with and without learning intention)
• Editable sign templates to customise instructions
• Detailed instruction sheet with setup tips, optional extensions and discussion prompts

Materials Needed:

• Printed button cards (preferably on coloured card)
• Play tray, tuff tray or large shallow tub
• Sensory material: sand, rice, cotton wool or paper shred
• Coloured pencils or markers
• Small bowl or container for collecting buttons
• Optional: string and real buttons for threading

How to Use:

• Prepare your tray with a chosen sensory base and hide the button cards throughout
• Provide each student with a small bowl, coloured pencil and a 100-frame recording sheet
• As students find buttons, they count aloud and colour a circle on their sheet
• Encourage students to discuss their progress, patterns or button features
• Use guided questions to prompt deeper thinking and number sense

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Set up as a maths rotation during your 100 Days of School celebration
• 💡 Use real buttons for added sensory appeal and threading challenges
• 💡 Invite students to sort their collected buttons and graph the results
• 💡 Extend learning by combining buttons that total 10, 20 or 100
• 💡 Use in conjunction with the other resources in our 100 Days of School collection

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Print button cards on thick coloured cardstock for durability and visual sorting
• 💛 Offer different sensory materials to keep the activity fresh and engaging
• 💛 Encourage oral sharing about the colours, textures and quantities students find
• 💛 Reinforce vocabulary like “more,” “less,” “equal,” and “groups of” during play

Collecting Buttons: Counting to 100 Play Tray is a delightful combination of maths, sensory play and hands-on learning. Whether used as a celebration station or a regular numeracy rotation, it helps young learners build a strong foundation in counting and number recognition while having fun!