Use children as counters when teaching whole number addition. Use large print to write an addition problem on the board and invite a number of students to stand underneath the first addend and a number of students to stand underneath the second addend. To solve the problem, the class counts the total number of students standing up. For example, in the problem 2 + 3, two students stand under the number two and three students stand under the number three and the total number of students are counted to determine the sum -- in this example, five.
Turn children's interest in toys into an opportunity to teach addition of whole numbers. Print an addition problem on a piece of paper and provide students with a pile of small toys -- trucks, balls or blocks, for example. Prompt children to count out a number of toys that corresponds to each addend and have them count the total number of toys to solve the problem. In the problem 2 + 4, for example, students would count a pile of two and a pile of four toys and then add the two piles for a total of six.
Use this active game to reinforce whole number addition. On a large sheet of butcher paper, draw a grid and fill the boxes on the grid with whole numbers; use single-digit numbers if you're just introducing the concept and use double- or triple-digit numbers for a more advanced activity. Provide students with two beanbags or two dice and instruct one student at a time to toss the beanbags or dice onto the paper. Students must add together the whole numbers that their beanbags or dice land on. If they determine the correct sum, they earn a point. The child who collects the most points wins the game.
Use a yardstick to encourage mental addition. Lay a yardstick on a flat surface and provide students with a coin. Write down an addition problem and instruct one student to place a coin on the number on the yardstick that corresponds to the first addend. Instruct the student to move the coin along the yardstick a number of spaces that corresponds to the second addend; the number that the coin lands on after moving up the number of spaces indicated by the second addend will be the sum of the problem. For example, in the problem 12 + 5, a student should place a coin on the number 12 on a yardstick and move it up five spaces so that it lands on the number 17, the sum of the problem. After using a yardstick to practice addition, encourage children to think of the yardstick in their heads to promote mental addition.