Place Value

Place value can be a difficult topic to present to five and six year old children, but I came across a fun way of showcasing how to share the beginnings of this subject to my math class.
Each pair of children received a laminated place mat which was divided into three sections: two small rectangles at the top, and one larger rectangle at the bottom. Additionally, the pairs received several beans and small counting cups. I asked the children to write the word "One 1" and the word "Ten 10" on the top of the two smaller rectangles. The one's place also had 9 star stickers to further represent this space. They were then asked to place one bean on the "Ones" side of the place-value mat (on top of a star sticker), pointing to the mat and saying, "Zero tens and 1 ones." They then added a bean and said, "O tens and 2 ones." We continued in a similar fashion until children had 9 ones. When we realized the tenth bean would not have a place in the one's place, we moved the ten beans in a counting cup to the "Tens" column of the mat. Now the children said, "1 ten and 0 ones."
This group did a terrific job learning this new and somewhat challenging concept.