Roll & Circle: A Simple Subitizing Game

When I saw this simple roll and circle game from Common Core Connections, I knew it would be a perfect way to practice subitizing with my five-year-old son. Even better—it couldn’t be easier to set up! I printed off this sheet of dot paper, grabbed some dice and markers, and we were ready to roll!

To play:

We take turns rolling the dice and circling a set of dots that is the same as the number rolled on the dice.

To make this a subitizing activity, I added the prompt, “Let’s see if we can figure out how many to circle without counting.”

What is subitizing?

To subitize simply means to look at a group and just see how many there are without counting. Like these dots: 🔵🔵 Did you count them? Probably not. Your brain can just “see it” and know that there are two. Subitizing only works with small quantities though. 

Try these: 🔴🔵⚫️🔴🔵⚫️. Your brain either counted them or subitized in parts and combined back together (my brain subitized 3 and 3 and combined for 6)

There are two types of subitizing:

1️⃣ Perceptual Subitizing: This is when your child can '“just see it” no matter what kind of arrangement the objects are in. (Think: I can “just see” three whether it’s a diagonal on a dice, three in a horizontal row, or three in a vertical row...) This type of subitizing is usually only for quantities 4 or smaller and develops after LOTS of repeated exposure to counting. It rarely develops before age 3 and is commonly present by age 6.

2️⃣ Conceptual Subitizing: When a person can “just see it” with a quantity greater than 4, they’re most likely doing one of two things. Either...

• They’ve memorized that specific setup. (Ex: I can immediately recognize 6 on a dice but probably have to count if I see 6 in a straight line.) 

• They’re rapidly splitting the quantity into smaller parts, perceptually subitizing the smaller parts and then combining back together. This is called conceptual subitizing. (Ex: Recognizing 6 without counting by seeing 3 and 3 and knowing that makes 6)

Conceptual subitizing develops later than perceptual subitizing because a child needs to understand the concept of parts combining to make wholes. 

What if my child can’t subitize yet?

Don’t worry about it! Just keep counting objects with them and playing games like this one. The more they count, the more their brains will start to memorize the quantities.

A simple way to expose them to subitizing, without pushing before they’re ready, is to show how you subitize. For example, if my child rolls a 5 and counts 5 dots, “1,2,3,4,5,” I might add on at the end: “That’s right! You found 5 dots just like the dice. Great job! I saw 5 a different way. My brain saw this 3 right here and then I knew I needed 2 more to make 5.”

There’s no pressure for them to change how they counted. They don’t feel like their way was wrong. They simple see that there are lots of ways to think about a number.

And don’t forget to Pin this post for when you need it down the road. Pinterest link below!