All Activities
Maths

Make Equal Towers

Overview

Children build towers and make them equal.

Learning Objective
Children create equal quantities and compare them.

Resources needed

  • Blocks or stackable objects

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Build a tower with a number of blocks.
  2. 2 Ask another child to copy it.
  3. 3 Count both towers.
  4. 4 Check if they are equal.
  5. 5 Adjust if needed.
  6. 6 Repeat with different sizes.
  7. 7 Discuss how they know they are equal.

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Make unequal towers and correct them
  • Use different objects
  • Compare more than two towers
More information

Place towers side by side for visual comparison. This makes the concept of equal immediate and concrete.

Use flat rows of objects on the ground instead of towers for children who find stacking difficult.

Do children count to check equality or rely on visual comparison? Can they adjust a tower to make it equal?

Stones, sticks cut to similar lengths, or any stackable objects work. If stacking is impractical, use flat rows of objects on the ground.

Children sometimes judge towers as equal by visual height without counting — a tower of large blocks may look the same height as a taller tower of small blocks but contain fewer. Always count as well as look.

Activity details
Early Years Easy 10–15 minutes No prep Pairs Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Comparing Counting