Number Builders: Make Five — Number Composition Guide for Ages 3–5

This play-based teacher’s guide helps children ages 3–5 explore how smaller groups combine to make five and how the same total can be built in different ways. Use child-safe blocks or counters, sorting mats, and optional number and visual instruction cards for a small group or whole class. Children practice counting each object, separating and recombining groups, and communicating their solutions through speech, gestures, pictures, signs, objects, or assistive communication. Begin with a total of three and progress to four and five as children are ready, using the checklist to observe learning during play rather than as a test.