Make an abacus: a fun summer math craft!

Other than loose rocks and seeds that prehistoric people used to count with, one of the most ancient math manipulatives is the abacus, or counting frame.  If your

This Chinese abacus predates our written number system.

kids have one, great! But just like growing their own garden can tempt kids to eat their vegetables, making math "toys" can encourage them to see math as something fun and exciting.  So why not have them make one?

There are many ways to make an abacus.  You can find a variety of abacus types and a variety of materials they can be made from.  However it's made, it's a great math manipulative your students can use over and over.

The type of abacus you make depends on what you want to use it for.  A simple 100-bead abacus is a great way to show place value.  The traditional Chinese or Japanese abacuses are a little more abtract.  These ancient counting frames are still base-ten models-- that is, they represent numbers whose digits represent multiples of 10 based on their position in the number-- but they use fewer beads per row because a separate section of each row contains higher-value beads.  Click here for a tutorial on how these traditional abaci (or abacuses) work.

A ten-bead per row, 100 bead abacus.

Math programs such as Right Start routinely use a 100-bead type of abacus to model place value.  This abacus typically has 100 beads, arranged in ten rows of ten beads each, often with five of one color and five of another to make the numbers easy to read.  The abacus is held so that the rows are vertical, and the row on the far right is the ones' place, with the next row to the left being tens, then hundreds, and so on.  When decimals are introduced, a dot can be placed along the frame to redefine the rows as hundredths, tenths, ones, etc.

One of many abacus apps.

Of course, you can find online abacus apps and use those, but it's so much more fun to have a real one you can actually put your hands on! Especially if you made it yourself.

To construct your own abacus, you will need beads, a frame, and rods of some kind to string the beads on. The beads themselves can be plastic pony beads, wooden beads, homemade clay beads,  even paper beads.  The frame can be made of wooden strips, popsicle (craft) sticks, or cardboard.  The beads can be strung onto wire, string, pipe cleaners ("chenille stems"), toothpicks, or bamboo skewers.  Even string can be used.  This clever video shows an abacus made entirely of paper and tape!

Two types of abaci among
 my favorite math "toys."

My favorite, portable, sturdy abacus is made of 50 pony beads, strung 10 at a time onto bamboo skewers, with the skewer ends hot-glued between pairs of popsicle sticks.  But if all you have is Froot Loops, tape, and plastic straws, the cereal can be strung on the straws and taped to a frame cut from the cereal box.   Be creative!   Other options, with more detailed instructions, are linked below.

traditional abacus design 

mini traditional design

base 10 (American) design