Not really sure what to teach with the bins full of linking cubes in your math classroom? Join the club! I’m kidding… I’ve actually got a few nontraditional uses for them I’m happy to share. In all seriousness, linking cubes (also known as unifix or snap cubes) are a versatile manipulative for any math teacher. Teaching with linking cubes can develop skills across multiple mathematical domains. If you got them, use them!
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These small, colorful blocks are a valuable tool with the ability to teach a wide range of mathematical concepts. From the basics of counting to more advanced concepts like geometry and spatial reasoning, these cubes can quite literally and figuratively be the vital link for struggling students to jump from concrete to more abstract representations. In this blog post, we’ll consider linking cubes for the following topics in your math classroom:
1. Counting and Cardinality
Probably one of the most basic uses for snap cubes is teaching students how to count. By linking the cubes together, kinesthetic learners can physically move them to learn basic arithmetic concepts such as one-to-one correspondence, cardinality, and the commutative property of addition. For example, a teacher can ask students to link a certain number of cubes and then count them to reinforce the concept of quantity. I also love unifix cubes in primary and elementary classrooms because of the fine motor practice they provide!
2. Algebraic Thinking
Teaching patterns with linking cubes is easy! Because the cubes come in various colors and can easily be arranged in different ways, they provide students with a tactile and visual way to explore patterns. To introduce the concept of patterns to students, have them create simple repeating patterns. For example, students can make an AB pattern by arranging two different colored linking cubes in a row and then continue repeating the same sequence.
I love using [cubes] to help Ks and Gr 1s learn to count and make patterns. This also helps them learn that different people can use different colours but still have the same numbers in a pattern.
Carla Lowther, Primary School Teacher
As students become comfortable with patterns, you can move on to creating more complex sequences with more color and variation. Teachers can also encourage students to extend existing patterns. Provide small groups with a few prelinked cubes. Challenge the students to identify the pattern and then continue it by adding the next few links in the series.
2. Numbers as Fractions
Middle school teachers, stick with me on this! Linking cubes can also be used to teach more advanced math concepts, such as fractions, decimals, and algebra. For example, a teacher could use the cubes to demonstrate the concept of fractions by showing how a whole can be divided into equal parts. Students can then use different colored cubes to represent parts shaded and compare fractions. Students can also use the cubes to explore basic operations (+, -, x, รท) of fractions with like denominators. With linking cubes providing a tangible visual representation of fractions, students better retain important key concepts necessary for future mathematical lessons.
3. Geometry
Another way linking cubes can be used in the classroom is to teach geometry. Students can explore shapes, symmetry, and spatial relationships by linking the cubes together in different arrangements. Introduce students to geometry by having them build simple two-dimensional shapes. From that starting point, your classes can then explore the properties of shapes. In younger grades, you might have students discuss with a partner number of sides and vertices. With older students, you could have them find the perimeter and area of each figure by measuring side lengths. Each snap cube is one unit, reinforcing the fact that area is one unit times another unit to equal square units.
Snap cubes work for teaching solid shapes, too! Use the colorful cubes to create prisms. They can find similarities and differences between 3D and 2D figures, helping to solidify how the two relate. I loved creating irregular 3D shapes and having my fifth graders find surface area and volume! Students can literally pull apart the figure into smaller pieces, thus reinforcing volume as additive.
4. Measurement and Data
The domain of measurement and data covers many strains over multiple school grade levels. Teachers can use snap cubes as a nonstandard unit of measure in the primary grades before introducing centimeters or inches. Linking cubes can also be used to teach students about weight. Have students use a balance scale to compare the weights of different objects with snap cubes. For older grades, students can grab a handful of unifix cubes and display the data as a line plot, histogram, or bar graph.
5. Statistics and Probability
Use linking cubes to teach probability! Put different colored cubes in a brown paper bag and have students predict what color will be drawn based on the initial number of cubes. Snap cubes are an easily accessible classroom tool for modeling probability simulations, such as rolling dice or spinning a spinner. High-achieving students can also create their own probability problems for classmates to solve. For students struggling with statistical word problems, I like to use these cubes to model real-world scenarios.
More Linking Cube Ideas
I asked a bunch of my math friends what they’d use linking cubes for after I found FOUR, yes, four, tubs of the colored blocks in my classroom closet. Here were some of the fantastic ideas:
- Jennifer Van Blair from Learning Out Loud models repeated addition as a means of teaching multiplication with linking cubes.
- 5th grade math Teacher Seller mathemizer uses unifix cubes for one of her prime factorization activities!
ACTIONABLE STEPS: Whip out those colored blocks! Teaching with linking cubes will provide you with a multisensory way to reinforce a wide range of math topics. Don’t have linking cubes? Get some! By providing students with a hands-on, visual way to learn math concepts, teachers can help students develop a stronger understanding of complex math topics. Simple colored blocks for the win!
