Number bonds with hula hoops: a 20-minute kindergarten math activity
What it is: a kindergarten math activity where groups of students stand in two hula hoops to show the ways a number can be split into two parts. It makes number bonds to 5 and 10 visible and physical.
Time: about 20 minutes. Grade: kindergarten.
Materials: two hula hoops (or two yarn circles) per group, a whiteboard, and number bond outlines (one big circle joined to two small circles) drawn on paper.
- Choose 5 students. Ask them to stand anywhere in the two hoops.
- The class counts each hoop: "3 and 2." Write it as a number bond: 5 at the top, 3 and 2 below.
- Students in one hoop move, one at a time, to the other. Each time, the class says the new parts: "4 and 1."
- Ask: "Can all 5 stand in one hoop? What are the parts then?" Talk about 5 and 0.
- In groups, students use the hoops to find every way to make 5, then 6, and record them on the outlines.
Differentiation: for students who need support, start with 3 or 4. Students who are ready can work with 10 and look for a pattern in the list. English learners can use the frame "___ and ___ make ___."
Quick check: show a number bond with 5 at the top and 4 in one part. Ask a student what goes in the empty part.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 30, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades K–2
- Subject
- Math
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.