Place Value Caterpillar: Math Manipulatives

When I was teaching math to third and fifth grade, place value was a concept that needed some extra support. To help my students, I made a place value caterpillar to put on the wall of our classroom. Each segment of the caterpillar's body was a different place value, the legs represented commas. As our fluency in reading numbers and place value grew, we added decimal place values to our caterpillars.

The Place value caterpillar manipulative set included

-2 place value caterpillars: one with whole numbers and one with decimals
-2 blank place value caterpillars to color and fill out
-Buildable circles to create your own place value caterpillar

There are several ways to use the place value caterpillar with your children. Print the place value caterpillar sheet to hang in your school area or add to your math notebook.

Give your child moveable numbers or pom-poms and call out numbers for your children to build on the caterpillar, placing the correct number on the correct place value. Have your child write the number in their math notebook, making sure the numbers are written in the correct order.

Print the place value circles to build your own caterpillar. This tests place value comprehension and memory skills as students work to remember the order of places.

Use the blank place value caterpillar pages to write the correct place value on the blank circles and color the caterpillar. As students learn more, they can use the decimal place value caterpillar, with the smaller circles.

We hope your student loves the place value caterpillar and they bring joy to your home or classroom.