“Subitizing is the ability to ‘see’ numbers at a glance, without one-to-one counting.  Research shows that students who have strong subitizing skills can more easily manipulate and partition numbers, which aids in computation and calculation of numbers.”

From Ruth Rose

Subitizing promotes number sense, and also ties in with the concepts of addition, subtraction, and even place value.

It helps to associate a number with a whole collection, to visualise quantities and the associated number, shows relationships between numbers, allows for visualisation
of subsets of a number and it is the foundation for quick and creative mental mathematics.

Hence, this strange word – ‘subitizing’ is a very beneficial skill to teach your students. There are many subitizing ideas and subitizing activities available on our website!

Number Recognition workbook