Math is not my favorite subject. In fact, it’s probably my least favorite. In our house, my husband Matt is known as the “numbers guy”. He’s always on top of the numbers. Whether our family budget, the next RV trip, or helping our soon-to-be 5th grader with long division, you’ll often hear him say, “let’s run the numbers…” I love it!
Thank the Lord for him 😊, because math makes me nervous! I will literally go through an entire multiplication problem, think I’ve done great, and boom! Smack in the face with the wrong answer. I’m terrible! I would be little to no help for our kiddos if our math curriculum didn’t come with a teacher’s manual.
Now when we’re talking the “easy” stuff, like simple addition and subtraction, count me in! Haha! I absolutely LOVE teaching my kids math in the early years. It’s fun, the kids are excited to learn numbers, and there’s so many cute little games you can play! Oohh I love it so!
For the past 4 years, we have been using a math curriculum that we all enjoy called Math U See, by Demme Learning. It is a lovely combination of mastering skills, while using manipulative blocks to learn new concepts. My oldest 2 have been using this curriculum over the years, and now our 3rd is going into Kindergarten this year and is SO excited to start using his new math book and blocks as well!
But about 2 years ago, my daughter was in 1st grade, and was having a hard time grasping the addition and subtraction facts. She’s the type that really flourishes with several different sensory options, so we would work on the worksheet, then do a few problems on the white board, then use some flashcards, and so on. And one of the neat things that come with your block set, is a fun picture they call decimal street. It is used to help visualize place value in the early grammar years, like K-4th grade. We enjoy using this so much, that I decided to make this resource more colorful and inviting! So today I’m going to show you how we made our Felt Decimal Street Mat!
What you’ll need: (all measurements are in inches.)
- Felt
To Start:
White: 24”x24” square
Green: 3”x3” square
Blue: 8”h x 5”w rectangle
Red: 17”x17” square
*note: these are rough shapes to make it easier to trim out the details. When cutting out the square or rectangle, get close to measurement, but don’t freak if it’s not exact 😊
Black: 4”x24” strip
Yellow: ½” x 2” strips for road. Extra for a sun in the corner
Final Dimensions will be:
White: 24”h x 24”w
Green (units house): 1.5”h(+ 1”roof) x 1.5”w
Blue (tens house): 5”h (+ 2” roof) x 4.5”w
Red (hundreds house): 15”h (+ 2” castle tops) x 15”w
Castle tops: 2”h x 2 ¼” w (with 1”gaps)
Black: 4”h x 24”w
Yellow: road strips (10) ½” h x 2”w, extra as needed for the Sun
- Something to measure with (an acrylic ruler, a large cutting mat, or something similar)
- Marker
- Scissors (and a rotary cutter if you have one!)
- Hot Glue Gun
- Extra Glue Sticks
I was able to get all my felt at my local Joann store. It all came off a bolt, so I got a yard of each color (plus more for some colors) because you never know when you might need felt, so, ya know…I like to be prepared 😊.
Ok, start with your background square of white. Cut out a nice big, even square, measuring 24” by 24”.
Set that aside and grab your green. Cut out a square measuring 3” by 3”. I like to cut out these bigger squares because they’re easier to work with than trying to cut out details from a big piece of yardage. Now, you can totally skip this step, and just move on to measuring out the units house, but it might make life a little easier in the long run to cut off these quick squares to work from.
I stuck my square piece in the corner of my cutting mat, and on the left side of the house, I measured 1 ½ “ high, made a small dot, and also 1 ½” wide across the bottom, and made a small dot.
I drew one wall of the units house up from the bottom dot.
Then from the top dot on the left, measure 1” up, and go half way to the middle of the house, to make another dot to be the point of the roof.
Connect the dots at an angle to make the roof of the units house.
Cut out your house, and if you have any markings showing, just flip it over! What a cute little house you made!
Now for blue, the tens house. Cut off a rectangular square measuring 8” high and 5” wide.
This time you’ll measure 5” high on the left side and make a small dot, and 4 ½” wide along the bottom and make a small dot.
Again, draw the wall on the right side of the house, up from the bottom dot. This time measure 2” up from the dot on the left and go half way to the middle of the house, to make the dot that is the point of the roof.
Connect the dots at an angle to make the roof of the tens house.
Cut out your house and set aside with the units house, so cute!
The last house is actually a castle! So cool! Grab your red felt and cut out a nice big square measuring 17” by 17”. I used a long acrylic ruler and my rotary cutter for this step. If you have those, it would be handy to use them! If not, good ol’ scissors work just fine!
Trim up the right side of your square to measure 15” wide.
To make the castle tops, measure 2” down from the top of the castle. The main part of the castle should measure 15” high by 15” wide, so these tops are the extra 2” on the top! Starting from each side, you’ll measure in 2 ¼”, make a small dot. From that dot, measure 1”, make a small dot. The center top will end up being a ¼” smaller, measuring only 2”. It’s ok, you barely notice 😊
Between the 1” gaps, draw a line. There should be 4 lines.
From those 4 lines, and using a straight edge, draw 2 lines up to the top of the castle from each one.
Take your scissors and cut out those small rectangles you just made, and you’ll reveal the tops of your castle! Looks awesome!
Now you have your 3 decimal street houses cut out! But before we start gluing, we need the street to be ready to go too…
So, grab your black felt, and cut out a nice even strip measuring 4” high by 24” wide. Make this as straight at possible. Set aside.
Take your yellow felt and cut out 10 small strips measuring ½” high by “2 wide. I first made a few long ½” strips, then cut them all into 2” small strips. That’s way easier than trying to cut out one at a time! Also, if you have a rotary cutter, that would handy right about now 😉
You’re almost done! Now the puzzle piecing can begin! Make a nice clean space and lay out your large piece of white background felt. Lay the black road down first, about half an inch or so from the bottom. Then space out the 3 houses on the street, with the green (units) house on the right, the blue (tens) house in the middle, and the red (hundreds) house on the left.
My road was still a touch long, so if that happens, just trim off any excess after you glue it down 😊. When that is all laid out how you like, hot glue them in place, starting with the road, and then moving on to each house. For the road, I started at one side of the mat and moved my way across, smoothing out the glue on top after each application. For the houses, I only hot glued around the edges, also smoothing them out from the top as you go along.
Take your yellow road strips, and space them out along the road as you see fit, and hot glue them down too. Doesn’t it look so good!!??
But I think a few more touches really make a big difference! Take some left over yellow felt and cut out a nice square about 3” by 3”, or bigger if you have enough. Place the corner of your yellow piece in the top right corner of your background piece. Measure how far you’d like the sun to shine out and cut off a rounded edge.
Hot glue along the corner edges, then place onto the background, and finish hot gluing along the new curved edge. With a few more piece of yellow felt, make some sunshine rays and hot glue down as well!
There you have it! A lovely addition to your math curriculum that you and your kids will enjoy using for years to come!!
To store, I simply gently roll up the mat from bottom to top, and store in our craft closet. But it’s also a great project to display on the wall too, I mean you just spent all this time making a super cute resource for your kids…why store it away?? We’ve had ours pinned to a giant cork board in our classroom, so the kids could take it down and play whenever they want! It’s also been a valuable visual aid for my kids to have it simply hanging up and being able to look at it while doing their math work! It can make a great play mat for Hotwheels cars and fun vehicles too 😊, just sayin’ for the little little’s!
If you’re using the Math U See curriculum along with your new mat, each house will hold the corresponding amount of blocks they use as well. So each house holds exactly 9 blocks of their colors, yay!!
Please let me know how this turned out for you by leaving a comment below! I love the feedback! And if you’re interested in having this mat, but not in making it, I got you covered! Visit my Etsy store, and you can purchase the mat already made!
I’m so glad you crafted with me today! Have a blessed day!
Joyfully,
