Give each student, or small group of students, a handful of stones, rocks or pebbles and allow them a few minutes to examine them. Allow the kids to build with them, move them around or just observe them so that during the lesson and reinforcement of the topic, the students are not distracted by the rocks.
Instruct students to sort the stones by color or surface texture. For example, some stones may be gray, while others are black. Some may have crystals or be shiny and smooth. Have the students count the number of stones in each group.
Measure the stones and re-sort the groups according to width. Use width ranges as group values. For example, group small pebbles measuring between 1/8 inch and 1 inch, while another group measures between 1 1/2 and 2 inches.
Give each student a piece of graph paper and instruct them to place a small stone or pebble in each grid space to demonstrate a value in a graph similar to a pictograph with manipulatives. Students can use the sorted stones to visually display how many stones are in each group.
Group the stones again and push two groups together. Students count the stones in the combined group to demonstrate addition. Take some stones away to show the children subtraction.
Instruct students to create groups of the same value. For example, students create five groups of five stones each, count all groups and calculate 5 multiplied by 5, equaling 25. This technique demonstrates multiplication.