Learn About Rounding with the Number Mountain

Trying to teach your child how to round numbers?  Start with our visual aid, then graduate to a fun card game that reinforces the concept.  The "number mountain" graphic can help your child better understand the basic concept of rounding. Once he gets it down, it's time for a fun card game!

What You Need:

Number Mountain Graphic

Paper

Deck of cards

Small toy car

What You Do:

Step 1. Set up the graphic.  Print out the number mountain above, or draw a picture of your own, with a 0 at the base, a sharp peak at the top with a number 5, and another 0 at the base on the other side. Then write numbers 1-4 ascending the left side of the mountain and numbers 6-9 descending the right side.

Step 2. Invite your child to explore the concept of rounding. Use a small car or game piece to illustrate climbing up and down the mountain. Ask your child what would happen to the car if it stopped at the number 3? Would it slide down or would it continue to climb up? What about if the car stopped at the peak of the mountain at number 5? And what about if the car stopped at the number 8? Giving your child a visual representation such as this can solidify her comprehension of rounding down for numbers ending with 1-4, and rounding up for numbers ending with 5-9. Let her use the illustration and the toy car to assist in solving rounding problems.

Step 3. Tie it to the number line.  To help your child understand rounding large numbers to specific place values, show your child how to underline the number in the place value they are rounding to, and circle the digit immediately to its right. The value of the underlined number indicates which place value to start rounding from and the circled number determines whether the number will be rounded up or down.