Subitising to 5
Recognise and name the number of objects in a collection of up to 5 instantly, without counting one by one (subitising), using dot patterns, dice faces, fingers and small groups of objects
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Subitising to 5 means knowing how many at a glance up to 5—dice faces, fingers, small piles—without counting one by one. We will flash patterns, name amounts, then check a fresh flash.
Spend about 10 minutes subitising collections to 5 with quick flashes, then checking a new pattern.
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Start practiceSubitising to 5 practice
Name amounts to 5 without counting one by one.
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Learning resources
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Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
Five by Two
Before you open · source notes
Quick looks at small sets support subitising to 5. Not every place-value chart.
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Before you openAsk the learner to say how many they see without counting one by one.
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Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “Five by Two.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Say how many dots are on a dice face showing 4 after a one-second glimpse, without counting
- Show 3 fingers quickly without counting them up one at a time
- Name the number in a flashed group of 2 or 5 counters arranged in different layouts
“When your child rolls a dice in a board game, can they say how many dots there are straight away — without counting each dot?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Counting & Cardinality
- Age range
- Ages 5–6
Standards