Telleblokker

Telleblokker is a Dutch term used to describe counting blocks, a form of math manipulatives designed for early arithmetic education. These tools provide a tangible representation of numbers and operations, helping learners visualize place value, counting, addition, and subtraction. A typical set includes unit blocks (each representing one), ten-block rods (combining ten units into a single rod), and, in some designs, a hundred-block square. Blocks are often color-coded to reinforce the base-10 structure (for example, red units, blue tens, green hundreds) or presented as simple wooden cubes in different sizes.

In classroom activities, students build numbers by combining tens and units, perform regrouping (trading ten unit blocks for one ten-block rod), and solve simple sums by manipulating physical blocks. This concrete approach aims to support abstraction later, as learners transition to mental arithmetic and place-value reasoning.

The term is most commonly encountered in Dutch-speaking educational contexts. In modern curricula, digital manipulatives and base-ten blocks in physical form coexist, but wooden or plastic telleblokker remain in use in various schools and homeschooling settings.

See also: base-ten blocks, math manipulatives, counting blocks, educational toys.