Learn About The Tally Marks Table – Example And Uses

Do you know how people used to keep a record of their belongings before numbers were invented? Well, when people found it difficult to know how to record the number of their belongings, they started counting with the help of sticks, which we today know as tally marks. It is the unary numeral system that is used for counting data. Tally marks are very commonly used in games and sports to represent the score, as it is easy to maintain, present and understand with the help of tally marks.

In this article, we have talked about what tally marks are, how to represent and use them and how to count tally marks. We have also covered a few examples and activities to make it easy for your little one to learn about tally marks. Let’s get started!

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What Are Tally Marks?

Let’s look at what tally marks and tally chart for preschoolers means.

Tally marks or hash marks are a way to mark or record counting. It’s a numerical system that makes counting easier. As the name suggests, tally marks help to keep a “tally” of things by number. They are generally used for counting scores, points, number of people, etc., arranged in tabular format. A tally mark is represented with the “|” symbol.

What Are The Uses Of Tally Marks?

Let’s take a look at the uses of tally marks.

Manually counting the observations can be time-consuming. Therefore, to reduce the manual work, the tally mark is an ideal method. Here, the raw data have to be changed and shown in the form of tally marks, where each frequency number is identified in the form of tally marks and added to obtain the frequency table. We will look at the examples of tally marks later.

What Is Tally Mark Chart?

When we arrange the given data in a table form with the help of hash marks, it is known as a tally marks chart. This chart helps to give a clear view of the data and is one of the easiest ways to keep track of the data.

How Does One Count Tally Marks?

It’s very easy to count tally marks. Let’s look at how each count can be represented with the help of tally marks.

• 1 is represented by the symbol ‘|’ tally mark
• 2 is represented by ‘| |’ tally marks
• 3 is represented by ‘| | |’ tally marks
• 4 is represented by ‘| | | |’ tally marks
• 5 is represented by drawing a line across the previous four lines – ||||
• 6 is represented by clustering the first 5 and then continuing to draw individual lines again –  |||| |

Fun And Easy Tally Mark Activities For Children

It is difficult to get a hold of kids and teach them something. So, parents have to come up with interesting ways to teach kids about different subjects. In this section, we have mentioned some fun and easy games and activities that will help kids to learn about tally marks and how to use them while counting the data. Let’s read!

1. Popsicle Stick Tally Marks

Materials You Need

• Popsicle Sticks

How To Play

1. Give your child a number between 1-10.
2. Ask them to represent the number in tally marks form using the popsicle sticks.
3. Show them how four sticks have to be placed vertically to represent the value 1-4, and the fifth stick has to be kept in a way that it crosses the previous four sticks.

2. Tell The Number & Draw

Materials You Need

• White Board
• Pen (for the board)
• Playing Cards

How To Play

1. Ask your child to draw a card from the deck of playing cards.
2. Now, tell them that they have to represent the number on the whiteboards using tally marks.
3. Once your child knows how to represent a single number, ask them to draw two cards, add the number on the cards and represent it using tally marks.

3. Count & Represent

Materials You Need

• Crayons – 7
• Sketch Pens – 3
• Books – 5
• Pillows – 2

How To Play

1. Gather all the things and mix them up.
2. On a sheet, make a tally mark chart for the items mentioned above.
3. Ask your child to see each item number and mark it in the tally mark chart.
4. The table should look like this at the end:

Solved Examples On Tally Marks For Children

Now we will take a look at some examples of tally marks for kids. Reading and understanding these examples will help the children to learn how to use tally marks to represent or read the data. This will also strengthen the foundation of tally marks for kids. Let’s read!

1. Write the tally marks for a frequency of 3.

Answer: |||

2. Write the frequency corresponding to the tally marks – |||| ||

Answer: 7

3. See the chart and tell the number of pizzas Rohan had in a month.

Answer: Rohan had 2 pizzas in a month.

4. A fruit seller sold the following fruits in a day.

• Orange
• Apple
• Pear
• Orange
• Orange
• Pear
• Apple
• Apple
• Apple
• Orange
• Pear
• Orange
• Apple
• Pear
• Apple

Count the total number of oranges, apples and pears he sold in a day using a tally marks chart.

Answer:

Representing the data with the help of tally marks is not difficult to teach children. All parents need to do is teach with a little patience, and your child will learn the basics of tally marks in no time. Start with teaching your child the symbol of tally marks, followed by how to count the given data and finally, how to represent the data in the tally marks chart. Teach with the help of activities and examples given in the article above, and write to us in case of any queries!

Also Read:

How to Teach Children Basic Counting
Sequencing Skills for Preschoolers
How to Teach Backward Counting to Preschoolers