Big, Big, BIG Numbers! - Math for Kids (PreK-2)
- Amy Wung Tsao
- Feb 12
- 4 min read
“I could eat a hundred jellybeans!”
“Oh yeah? Well I could eat a million jellybeans!”
“I could eat a billion!”
“A trillion!”
“INFINITY JELLYBEANS!!!”
If you've heard a kid argument escalate all the way to infinity, then you know that kids find big numbers fascinating. I think it’s because they’re fun words to say, but also so mysterious. Like, what even is a million, billion, trillion? Most adults can't visualize those big numbers for themselves, much less explain them to kids.
I've pulled together some amazing math videos, books, and activities that will help adults and kids alike understand the really big numbers, and even infinity! With the visuals, even a preschooler or kindergartens can grasp the concept of really big numbers. And these will be great reinforcements for any elementary-age kids learning place value in math.
(Just a reminder - I am never paid to mention any of these resources; there are no affiliate links.)
Kids Math Videos about Big Numbers
from Numberblocks (Season 4 Episode 29)
Is one hundred the biggest number your kids can think of? But you can always add one more, and get an even bigger number! This perfect little 4 minute video introduces big numbers like one thousand and one million to preschoolers and kindergartners. But it's also a great visual for older kids learning about place value in math!
Infinite Love
from Peg + Cat on PBS Kids
Let cartoon Einstein explain to your kids that “Infinite means there are so many you could never count them all!” This one is great for kindergartners and older kids to learn the difference between finite and infinite. And my earnest little heart loves the ending message that since love is infinite, there is always enough for everyone.
Kids Math Picture Books about Big Numbers
Is 2 A Lot? by Annie Watson, illustrated by Rebecca Evans
I love the open ended question that this book asks. Is 2 a lot? Well it’s not a lot of pennies, but it is a lot of smelly skunks…. And 1,000 is not a lot of grains of sand. But it is a lot of hot air balloons.
This imaginative book is about numbers, it’s about relative scale, and it’s about context. And it’s the first step to thinking about what makes numbers big.
A Million Dots written by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Mike Reed
Do you really know what a million looks like? Turns out, a million dots is a LOT! The pictures in this book are all made up of tiny dots. So many dots. A million dots! Plus random facts using big numbers, like an average person’s heart beats about 700,000 times a week.
My 7 year old poured over this book over and over last year. Even preschoolers would be enchanted by this book. You don’t need to even know any math - the impact is all there in the visuals.
written by David M Schwartz, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
How tall is a tower of 1 million kids standing on each other’s shoulders?
1 billion?
This book is full of fun relatable visuals of big numbers! And this book also doesn’t absolutely require understanding place value, so it could even work for a preschooler.
For the older kids (upper elementary), this same author also wrote Beyond a Million, which features Professor X. P. Nential teaching power counting to get to even bigger numbers.
Kids Math Activities about Big Numbers
Take a big number nature walk Take a nature walk and look for examples of big numbers in nature - like leaves on the tree, or blades of grass in the yard. With younger kids, you could ask them to consider whether there are more blades of grass in the yard than leaves on the tree. For older kids, you could count the leaves on one branch, then use that information to try to estimate how many leaves there are total. Who knows where your walk and conversation will take you?
Make big numbers on the calculator Here’s a math challenge that only takes a calculator. (This Ikea toy cash register is my kid’s favorite calculator.) Try to make the biggest number you can on the calculator. What’s the biggest number your calculator can even show? What if you start with the number 1 - could you add or multiply your way to big, big numbers as fast as you can? How? With any luck, your kids might just start to play independently with a calculator all on their own.
Explore how big and small our universe is Explore the meaning of big, all on your computer screen. You’ll want to open this website on a computer monitor, then click “Start Exploring.” Then zoom in, and explore a universe of tiny things, or zoom out and explore a universe of big things!
This is such an interactive way to really get a feel for the scale of how much bigger, or smaller, we are compared to a blue whale, or Rhode Island, or Pluto, or a grain of salt, or DNA. Be aware that younger kids may need help navigating the website as it does have banner ads.
I hope you found some ways to share the joy of big numbers with the kids in your life. Even better, share this post with a friend and spread the joy of big numbers even further!
Until next time, have fun lighting sparks of curiosity!
Amy Wung Tsao
P.S. If you enjoyed this post, sign up here with your email, so you never miss an update!
Comments