Free Digital Math Manipulatives
Many of the virtual manipulative websites teachers and students once used, like the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives and Glencoe Math, no longer work on all browsers or devices. Older sites relied on Flash and Java applets that are slowly going the way of the floppy disc. The sites below will work on essentially any device or browser.
5 Great Sites for Digital Math Manipulatives
Virtual Manipulatives for Math – Didax Educational Resources
Didax provides colorful manipulatives including Unifix cubes, base ten blocks, and prime factor tiles. You can also download a free PDF activity guide for students in grades K-12. Additionally, all of their manipulatives can be embedded in most LMS or teacher web pages by copying and pasting a small line of code (try it out below).
Virtual Manipulatives – GeoGebra
GeoGebra offers a variety of manipulatives. In addition to many of the typical manipulatives, students can also practice measurement with their virtual protractor and ruler (available in inches and centimeters).
Polypad – Virtual Manipulatives by Mathigon
Drag and drop polygons, number tiles, number bars, fraction bars, algebra tiles, and more to a virtual whiteboard. In addition to working with the virtual manipulative, students can annotate the whiteboard and download their work as an image file. Be sure to check out Mathigon’s other activities.
Mathematical Modeling | Toy Theater
Toy Theater has more than 50 digital manipulatives, including some that can be hard to find like play money, thermometers, and interactive clocks.
Math Manipulatives | Math Playground
Math Playground features a variety of entertaining math games for elementary school students. In addition to games and virtual manipulatives, Math Playground is also home to the popular Thinking Blocks modeling tool. Unfortunately, some of their manipulatives require Flash, so they won’t work on iPads or in some browsers.
What’s Your Favorite Site for Virtual Math Manipulatives?
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