Stamp Game: Addition

This math lesson is designed for 6 to 12-year-old children to guide them about adding 4-digit numbers using the Montessori stamp game.

In our previous video lesson, the Montessori stamp game, we learned about stamp games and how to create DIY stamps using colored paper at home. In this video lesson, we will learn how to add 4-digit numbers using the stamp game.

This stamp game addition is a hands-on way of learning and helps children understand the concept behind addition practically and exchange or carry forward digits.

What is the Purpose of Stamp Game Addition?

The purpose of the Montessori stamp game is to provide a visual representation of mathematical concepts. By using physical stamps to represent quantities, children are able to develop a better understanding of how numbers work and how they can be combined to create new numbers.

The addition stamp game allows children to see how two or more quantities can be combined to create a larger quantity. By physically moving the stamps around and combining them, children can develop an intuitive sense of how to do addition.

Materials Required for Stamp Game Addition 

• Large quantities of wooden squares of equal size about 1-inch square like stamps:
• Green-colored stamp of 1.
• Blue-colored stamp of 10.
• Red-colored stamp of 100.
• Green-colored stamp of 1000.
• A pencil and ruler.
• Grid or ruled paper.

One can also download the stamps here for the addition.

Prerequisite of Stamp Game Addition:

• A child must learn how to do static addition using stamps i.e. addition without exchanging numbers. This method will help children to move from concrete to more abstract ways to learn addition.
• A child must be introduced to bead bars and fully understand how to count, add, subtract, multiply, and divide using bead bars.

How To Present Stamp Game Addition To The Child?

Let us add 4250 + 2936 as an example

1. Invite the child to the table along with the stamp game.
2. Show the child the problem sum card and ask the child to write it the first 4-digit number (4250) on the grid paper. 
3. As shown in the video, ask the child to place 0 units (green round stamp) on the unit grid. 5 blue colored stamps in the tens grid, 2 red colored stamps on the hundreds grid, and 4 green colored stamps on the thousands grid.
4. Put a pencil or ruler to divide the grids and repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. Now, remove the pencil and start adding the numbers, starting with the unit place. In this case, we will add 0 and 6, resulting in 6 stamps. Write the answer in the practice book. 
6. Similarly, in the tens place, add 5 and 3 to get result 8. 
7. In the hundred places, add 2 and 9. Stop when you have counted 10. Go to the bank and exchange 10 units of hundreds with a thousand stamps. Add that thousand stamp on the thousand grid.
8. In the thousand places, add digits 4, 2, and 1 to get result 6 (4 and 2 are the original number digits, and 1 we converted 10 hundred stamps for 1 thousand stamps).
9. The final result after adding all the digits we get is 6186. 
10. Note the result in the record book. Ask the child to try. 

Instill a sense of logical thinking in the child by asking them to repeat this activity as shown in the video and add multiple digit numbers using stamps.

Related Stamp Game Video Lessons:

• Stamp Game Introduction
• Stamp Game Subtraction
• Stamp Game Division
• Stamp Game Multiplication
• Group Division using Stamp Game

To watch more Montessori math video resources, click here. 

Video Created by: Maddy Taylor