- What Are Cardinal Numbers?
- When To Teach Cardinal Numbers to Children?
- Cardinal Number Vs. Ordinal Number
- Cardinal Numbers In Maths
- How To Teach Cardinal Numbers To Kids?
- Activities That Will Help Your Child To Learn Cardinal Numbers
- Solved Examples Of Cardinal Numbers
- Practice Problems On Cardinal Numbers
- Facts About Cardinal Numbers For Kids
- FAQs
Teaching children numbers at the right age is simple and important. Once a child has learned and grasped the concept of numbers with the help of various poems, songs and activities, they must be introduced to different concepts like – cardinal numbers in English. But when it’s time to teach these numbers, you might wonder how you can make it fun and interactive for children to learn.
In this article, we have covered some fun activities to try with your little one cardinal numbers. We have also covered the definition and various examples of such numbers that help your child learn the concept easily. Let’s begin!
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What Are Cardinal Numbers?
To understand the meaning of the cardinal numbers, let’s read below:
Cardinal numbers are the numbers that are used for counting. These numbers are also known as natural numbers or cardinals. Cardinal numbers starts from 1 and continue up to infinity. We use these numbers to answer the question, “how many?”. Cardinal numbers do not hold values as decimals or fractions. In simple words, cardinal numbers help to count the number of items.
To understand cardinal numbers, let’s explore an example:
Example: Look at the image given below.
How many cats are in the given picture?
To know the total number of cats, we need to count the cats given in the image.
So, there are 3 cats . Here, 3 is the cardinal number.
How Do You Write Cardinal Numbers?
Cardinal numbers refer to a set of things or real-life objects. You can either write them in numerical format, like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. or spell them out as words, like one, two, three, four, etc. How simple, no!
The examples given below will focus on helping kids get comfortable with learning to write cardinal numbers.
Note: It might take your child a while to write cardinal numbers correctly. Lots of children write the number 5 backwards, and some even reverse the order of two-digit numbers (31 for thirteen – because they hear the 3 first). That’s fine! Like with all learning objectives, each child is unique and will learn at their own pace.
Examples Of Cardinal Numbers
The cardinality of a group represents the number of things/real things available in that group.
For Example:-
1. How many clothes are hanging in the cupboard?
There are 6 clothes hanging in the cupboard.
2. How many cars are driving in the lane?
3 cars are driving in the lane.
3. How many dogs and cats are there in Mayank’s house?
Mayak has 3 dogs and 2 cats in his house.
In the above examples, the numbers 6, 3, and 2 are the cardinal numbers. So basically, cardinal numbers denote the quantity of something, irrespective of their order.
When To Teach Cardinal Numbers to Children?
Confused what is the right age for teaching your kids about cardinal numbers? You can teach your little one cardinal numbers between the age of 5-7 years. By this age, children have already learned to count through songs, games and visual aids, any by rote. Therefore, they are now ready to learn cardinal numbers.
Cardinal Number From 1 To 100
Here are cardinal numbers in words for kids in tabular format to learn easily.
| 1 | One |
| 2 | Two |
| 3 | Three |
| 4 | Four |
| 5 | Five |
| 6 | Six |
| 7 | Seven |
| 8 | Eight |
| 9 | Nine |
| 10 | Ten |
| 11 | Eleven |
| 12 | Twelve |
| 13 | Thirteen |
| 14 | Fourteen |
| 15 | Fifteen |
| 16 | Sixteen |
| 17 | Seventeen |
| 18 | Eighteen |
| 19 | Nineteen |
| 20 | Twenty |
| 21 | Twenty-one |
| 22 | Twenty-two |
| 23 | Twenty-three |
| 24 | Twenty-four |
| 25 | Twenty-five |
| 26 | Twenty-six |
| 27 | Twenty-seven |
| 28 | Twenty-eight |
| 29 | Twenty-nine |
| 30 | Thirty |
| 31 | Thirty-one |
| 32 | Thirty-two |
| 33 | Thirty-three |
| 34 | Thirty-four |
| 35 | Thirty-five |
| 36 | Thirty-six |
| 37 | Thirty-seven |
| 38 | Thirty-eight |
| 39 | Thirty-nine |
| 40 | Forty |
| 41 | Forty-one |
| 42 | Forty-two |
| 43 | Forty-three |
| 44 | Forty-four |
| 45 | Forty-five |
| 46 | Forty-six |
| 47 | Forty-seven |
| 48 | Forty-eight |
| 49 | Forty-nine |
| 50 | Fifty |
| 51 | Fifty-one |
| 52 | Fifty-two |
| 53 | Fifty-three |
| 54 | Fifty-four |
| 55 | Fifty-five |
| 56 | Fifty-six |
| 57 | Fifty-seven |
| 58 | Fifty-eight |
| 59 | Fifty-nine |
| 60 | Sixty |
| 61 | Sixty-one |
| 62 | Sixty-two |
| 63 | Sixty-three |
| 64 | Sixty-four |
| 65 | Sixty-five |
| 66 | Sixty-six |
| 67 | Sixty-seven |
| 68 | Sixty-eight |
| 69 | Sixty-nine |
| 70 | Seventy |
| 71 | Seventy-one |
| 72 | Seventy-two |
| 73 | Seventy-three |
| 74 | Seventy-four |
| 75 | Seventy-five |
| 76 | Seventy-six |
| 77 | Seventy-seven |
| 78 | Seventy-eight |
| 79 | Seventy-nine |
| 80 | Eighty |
| 81 | Eighty-one |
| 82 | Eighty-two |
| 83 | Eighty-three |
| 84 | Eighty-four |
| 85 | Eighty-five |
| 86 | Eighty-six |
| 87 | Eighty-seven |
| 88 | Eighty-eight |
| 89 | Eighty-nine |
| 90 | Ninety |
| 91 | Ninety-one |
| 92 | Ninety-two |
| 93 | Ninety-three |
| 94 | Ninety-two |
| 95 | Ninety-five |
| 96 | Ninety-six |
| 97 | Ninety-seven |
| 98 | Ninety-eight |
| 99 | Ninety-nine |
| 100 | One hundred |
List Of Cardinal Number From 100 To 1000
Here are cardinal numbers as multiples for kids in tabular format to learn easily.
| 100 | One Hundred |
| 200 | Two Hundred |
| 300 | Three Hundred |
| 400 | Four Hundred |
| 500 | Five Hundred |
| 600 | Six Hundred |
| 700 | Seven Hundred |
| 800 | Eight Hundred |
| 900 | Nine Hundred |
| 1000 | One Thousand |
Cardinal Number Vs. Ordinal Number
Let’s understand the difference between cardinal and ordinal numbers for kids.
| Cardinal Numbers | Ordinal Numbers |
| These numbers are used for counting purposes. | These numbers are used to denote the position or rank, or order of something or someone. |
| They are counting numbers that represent quantity, like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. | They are based on the position or rank of an object/person in a given list or order, like 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. |
| They give us the answer ‘how many?’. | They give us the answer ‘where or which?’. |
Cardinal Numbers In Maths
Now that you have read some basic things about cardinal numbers let’s read what cardinal numbers stand for in maths.
What Is Cardinality?
The cardinality of a set or a group means how many things or elements are present in a group or in a set.
For example, if a ball set has 5 balls in it, then the cardinality of the ball set is 5.
What Is A Cardinal Number Of A Set?
In the case of cardinal sets, the cardinal number is the total number of elements present in that set. In simple words, the number of distinct elements present in a set is the cardinal number of the set.
The cardinal number of a set A can be represented as n(A).
For example, the cardinal number of set W= {1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11} is n(W)=6, as there are 6 elements in it.
How To Teach Cardinal Numbers To Kids?
After your child learns to count, you can teach them cardinal numbers. You can begin by making them count sets of objects through child-led play and activities such as counting plastic toys, counting the number of story books they have, counting bottles etc. In the next section, we have also covered some fun activities that you can use to teach your child cardinal numbers.
Activities That Will Help Your Child To Learn Cardinal Numbers
Let’s take a look at some cardinal numbers activities for children.
1. Hopscotch With A Twist
Materials You Will Need
- Chalk
What To Do
- Draw the normal hopscotch on the floor using chalk.
- Now, ask your child to hop from one number to another and tell them what to do when they are on a particular number. Doing an additional activity will make this a fun game for them.
- For example, when your child hops on to number three, tell your child to jump five times or do some other activity.
2. Learn With Cookies
Materials You Will Need
- Cookie dough
- Chocolate chips
- A die
What To Do
- Form some cookies using cookie dough. Do not add chocolate chips to cookies.
- Ask your child to roll a die and count the number of dots that it lands on. Then, add the same amount of chocolate chips to one cookie.
- Repeat this for another cookie until all the cookies are decorated with chocolate chips.
- Bake the cookies and enjoy them with your little one.
3. Count The Object
Materials You Will Need
- Common items at home
What To do
- Simply ask your little one “how many do you have ” of a specific item at your home. Then ask them to walk around and count “how many” are there.
- Here are some object ideas to get you brainstorming:
- How many chairs do we have around the dining table?
- How many rooms do we have in our house?
- How many shoe pairs do you have in your closet?
- How many spoons are in the drawer?
- How many photo frames do we have on the wall?
- How many wall clocks do we have in the house?
Solved Examples Of Cardinal Numbers
1. Kareena has a list of numbers as shown – 6th, 8th, 10, Two, Fourth, 2nd. Identify the cardinal numbers from this list.
Answer: The cardinal numbers in this list are – 10 and two.
2. Help Ryan calculate the total vowels in “NUMBERS”. Also, tell how many number of alphabets are used to form this word.
Answer: Vowels in “NUMBERS” are – u and e.
The number of alphabets required to form “NUMBERS” is 7, which is a cardinal number.
Practice Problems On Cardinal Numbers
1. Help Teena identify the cardinal number:
a. 12th
b. 6
c. 1st
Answer: b. 6
2. Leena has ended up composing her 5th poem. How many poems has she composed till now?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 6
Answer: b. 5
3. Write the cardinality of the flowers in the vase.
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
Answer: b. 4
Facts About Cardinal Numbers For Kids
Now that your little one knows what cardinal numbers are, let’s teach them some interesting facts about these numbers.
- These numbers are also known as counting numbers and natural numbers.
- All the possible cardinal numbers can be written in word form.
- We can represent a group of ordinal numbers by cardinal numbers.
- Cardinal numbers are stated by “how many” and are always used for counting.
- Cardinal numbers do not include fractions and decimals.
- Zero is not a cardinal number, as it means nothing.
- The cardinality of a set tells how many things or elements are there in the set.
FAQs
1. How To Find The Cardinal Number?
You can find cardinal numbers by counting. We start with 1 and then go on as per the number sequence.
2. Which Is The Lowest Cardinal Number?
The lowest cardinal number is 1 (one).
3. Which Is The Biggest Cardinal Number?
There are infinite natural numbers. So, there are as many cardinal numbers as natural numbers. There can be no generalisation of the biggest natural number, and the same applies to the biggest cardinal number.
4. Is 0 (Zero) A Cardinal Number?
Zero is not a cardinal number, as it means nothing, but a cardinal number represents quantity.
5. Can Cardinal Numbers Be Negative?
No, these numbers cannot be negative. They are positive integers or natural numbers that we count from 1. These goes up to infinity.
Cardinal numbers are a part of our daily lives and are the foundation for almost all the number work we do. Helping kids understand these numbers will set them up for success with future mathematical concepts. This article will surely help them have lots of fun while also learning and growing.
Also Read:
How to Teach Ordinal Numbers to Kids
Number Names for Children to Improve Maths Skills
How to Teach Prime Numbers to Kids
