Recognising small quantities instantly is an essential building block of early number sense, and the Tower Build: Subitising to 5 Game turns that skill into a fun and physical classroom activity. With visual game boards and colourful tower-building play, students can explore subitising through touch, sight and action.

This engaging game helps students develop the ability to quickly identify numbers without counting. As they build towers to represent what they see on each square, learners practise visual discrimination, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence – all while strengthening fine motor control.

Designed for Foundation and Early Years students, the resource is suitable for individual or partner work and can be easily incorporated into small group rotations. It’s ideal for classroom use during hands-on learning sessions and supports differentiated instruction through the use of high and low colour board versions.

Key Learning Outcomes

• ✅ Develop subitising skills for quantities up to 5
• ✅ Practise matching visual quantities with concrete representations
• ✅ Strengthen number recognition and one-to-one correspondence
• ✅ Support early counting fluency and numeracy talk
• ✅ Build fine motor control through tower stacking

What’s Included

Six game boards (high and low colour options)

Detailed instructions for setup and gameplay

Materials Needed

Plastic linking cubes, blocks, or other stackable manipulatives

Printed game boards (preferably on thick cardstock)

Optional: laminator for reuse and storage folders for rotation use

How to Use

1. Print and prepare the game boards, selecting either high or low colour versions to suit your class.
2. Provide each student or pair with a game board and a set of linking cubes or stackable items.
3. Students examine each space on the game board and subitise the quantity shown without counting.
4. They then build a cube tower that matches the quantity they saw.
5. Continue until all spaces on the board have been represented with towers.
6. Use as a timed challenge or collaborative task depending on your learning intention.

Ideas for Classroom Use

• 💡 Add this to your numeracy rotations during early number or subitising units
• 💡 Use as a fine motor warm-up at the start of maths group work
• 💡 Pair students with mixed skill levels for peer modelling opportunities
• 💡 Reinforce quantity-to-symbol understanding by following up with matching numeral cards

Top Teacher Tips

• 💛 Laminate game boards for repeated use with different manipulatives (e.g. unifix cubes, counters, small objects)
• 💛 Use as an informal assessment to observe student subitising ability and confidence
• 💛 Encourage verbal number talk by asking students to describe what they see and build
• 💛 Store materials in labelled zip-lock bags or tubs for quick setup during maths sessions

With vibrant boards and physical play, the Tower Build: Subitising to 5 Game brings early numeracy to life – supporting visual number recognition, hands-on exploration and mathematical talk in one engaging task.