• Card deck: Junior Card
• Prerequisites:
  • Play arena: Standard
  • Number of players: 4

The objective of the game is to make players familiar with the cards by identifying the card number (counting the dots/bindis) and their suit (tactile shapes). The game starts with the players all being dealt 1 or 2 cards each. Players then identify their card number, card suit and then whoever has the highest number card/lowest number card wins the game.

SESSION 1

• Place board on the floor and ask children to sit one facing each of the four sides of the board.
• Ask them to say who is on their left and who is on their right and who is on their front. Reach out and hold hands with that child as they say the name.
• Deal one card to each of them from 1 to 4 of the same suit in their slots.
• Ask them to pick up their card and examine the cards. Ask one child at a time to say what they find interesting in their card. Direct their finger to the suit and tactiles if needed. Distinguish between the front and back (face up and face down).
• Give each card the proper name such as “4 spades” or “3 diamonds” etc. When everyone knows what card they have. Ask them to put their card to the slot of the child to their right.
• Ask them to pick up and repeat the above two more times, till all the four have seen all the four cards.
• Play 2-3 times more rounds of the game.
• Ask them to put their cards in the discard slot on the centre of the board face up.

SESSION 2

• Ask the children if they remember the game.
• If there are any students who were absent from the previous session, ask the children to explain to him/her what the game is all about.
• When you think the children are clear about the cards (suit and number), start playing.
• This time deal same card of four different suits to each of them in their slots.
• Similar to the first session, give each card the proper name “4 spades”, “4 diamonds” etc. When everyone knows what card they have. Ask them to put their card to the slot of the child to their right.
• Ask them to pick up and repeat the above two more times, till all the four have seen all the four cards of different suits.
• Give one more round with the 2 from all 4 suits.
• Ask them to put their cards in the discard slot face up.

SESSION 3

• In this session, start playing ‘identify your card’ game.
• Deal a random card to each child and ask them to identify it.
• Circulate it to the next person and repeat identification. Help those who are not being able to do so.
• After the first round, introduce one more part to the game, whoever has the ‘biggest number’ wins.
• Play 2-3 more rounds and now introduce a small change in the game as ‘whoever has the lowest number, wins the game’.

SESSION 4

• Today, play the same game and let the children deal the cards themselves. Ask the first child to deal one card to each of the four slots starting from the person on the left and stop when she deals a card to her own slot.
• Let them identify their cards and whoever has the highest number card wins the game.
• In the next round, the next child deals the card and the game continues but this time deal two cards at a time and whoever has the biggest card among the two wins the game.
• After the winner is decided, both cards can be dumped on the discard pile in the centre.

• Prerequisites: Counting
• Number of players: 2
• Materials: Noughts and Crosses board

A simple game played by two people. The objective of Noughts and Crosses is to get a winning line of three Noughts or three Crosses in either a horizontal, vertical or diagonal row. The Noughts and Crosses board is a square grid containing nine squares arranged in threes. The game is played by two people who either play as Noughts (Os) or Crosses ( Xs). They can either be drawn or objects resembling these two options can be used. In giant Noughts and crosses for example, the two objects are the Noughts and crosses themselves.

SESSION 1:

• Introduce the Noughts and Crosses board to the children and let them explore it.
• Once they are familiar with the board and the number of square boxes in it. Explain them the rules or instructions to play the game.
• Ask the children to decide who is going to move Xs and Os with them and let them collect and keep it with them.
• The player with the Xs starts the game by positioning his X in a square. The player with the Os follows and both players take turns to move and occupy the squares of the grid trying to make a row of three and pay attention to the board and if you have two pieces in a line, play the third to complete the row. Block if your opponent has two pieces in a row , play your piece to block them from completing the row.

SESSION 2:

• Ask the children to play the game. Now, Start with the player having Os then Xs.
• Let them play for 4 times or even number of times and see who won maximum number of times and how.
• Also, ask them to explain strategies they found or observed so far.

Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level)
Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, card game 0, card identification
Play arena: Standard
Number of players: 3

Each player is dealt 13 cards. The remaining cards are placed in a face down stack in the middle, forming the draw pile. The objective of the game is to be the first to form a hand consisting of valid combinations of sequences and/or sets. A set consists of at least three cards of the same rank, for example 4♥ 4♦ 4♠ or K♥ K♦ K♠ K♣. A run consists of at least three consecutive cards of the same suit J♣ Q♣ K♣ or 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ 7♥.
For a winning hand to be valid, the following rules should be observed:

1. A randomly picked card will be selected as the joker before game-play begins. Cards of the same rank as the selected card, as well as the jokers of the pack can be used in lieu of any other card to form a sequence or set.
2. Cards in each category rank from low to high: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King. Ace can be used as 1 or a face card when forming the sets.
3. A winning hand will contain 4 sets/sequences, one of which will be a set/sequence of 4 cards each and all the others will contain 3 cards each.
4. There should be one true sequence (a sequence with no joker) of not less than 3 cards of the same suit.
5. There can be up to 2 sets in the winning hand, which are either sets of 3 or sets of 4 cards.

SESSION 1:

• Before the session: Keep the card pack (after removing the kings, queens and jacks), and the play arena at hand. Now you are ready for the session.
• Since the game has many intricacies, it is advisable to introduce the children to the game in an orderly, step-by-step manner. In the first session, explain the first part of the game to the children, how to order numbers and create a sequence. In this session, the children will play only with 3 cards. They will identify the numbers on the card, and draw and discards cards to create a sequence. For this session, ignore the suits on the cards.
• Now explain to the children that the game is all about making sequences. A sequence is a set of numbers in order, such as 2, 3, 4 and 8, 9, 10. Their aim in this session is to identify which card they need to complete their sequence and play the game until they do so.
• Once you are sure the children have understood, hand the pack to one of the children and ask him/her to deal 3 cards each to all participants.
• Gently guide and prompt the children to figure out which cards they need to create a sequence.
• Some children might be comfortable with the idea of making sequences already and will not need help, while some others will need prompts.
• Tell children that they should now discard their unwanted card (the card that does not fit the pattern) and pick up another card from the draw pile. The next child should now first check if the top card in the discard pile is one they want, and pick another card from the draw pile only if they do not.
• Allow the children to get familiar with the game as well as the draw and discard process.
• Play until a child has a sequence.
• If time permits, play 2-3 more rounds of the game.

SESSION 2:

• Ask the children if they remember the game.
• If there are any students who were absent from the previous session, ask the children to explain to him/her what the game is all about.
• When you think the children are clear about the rules, start playing. This time sit back and only help where absolutely necessary. Let the children figure out on their own.
• After 2 rounds of play, explain to them that you are now going to make the game a little more challenging this time.
• Tell the children that, from the next round, 6 cards will be dealt to each child instead of 3, and that they should make 2 sequences to win.
• Help the children where necessary.
• Play some more rounds of the game, while ensuring that you are more of an observer than a teacher.

SESSION 3:

• This time, after playing 2 rounds of the game as played in the previous session, add 3 more cards to the hand each child is dealt.
• Each child will now have 9 cards and will have to make 3 sets of sequences to win.

SESSION 4:

• Play 2-3 rounds of the game as before.
• Now, introduce the face cards to the children. By this time, the children should be using the standard deck of braille cards and not the junior cards. Explain the names of the face cards and their positioning and order within a suit. Also explain the unique position of ace (that it can act as 1 as well as a face card above king).
• After you are certain the children have understood, also add and explain an additional 4 cards to the hand each child is dealt. Now, each child will be dealt 13 cards, and will have to make 1 set of 4 cards and 3 sets of 3 cards each.
• Play the game for another 2-3 rounds.

Session 5:

• Play the game for a couple of rounds as it has been played in the previous sessions.
• Now, explain to the child that they can no longer make a sequences with numbers of any suit. Instead, each sequence they make should consist only of numbers from 1 particular suit.
• Before the game play, also introduce the jokers to the children. Explain that the jokers are to be used as substitutes for a card they do not have. Also introduce the process of randomly picking one card in the beginning to be the joker.
• Now begin playing.
• The children will have many doubts and will need help in arranging their cards, figuring out where to put a card, etc. Help as and when necessary.
• Play at least a couple of rounds so that children get used to the game.

Session 6:

• Play 2-3 rounds of the game as before.
• Once you are sure the children have figured all the rules of the game explained to them so far, explain to them the concept of rummy. Tell them that they can make sets of rummy also as they play. However, they can make only up to 2 such sets. This could be a set of 3 or a set of 4.
• Now play the game with all the rules.

• Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level)
• Prerequisites: card game 0, card identification
• Play arena: Standard
• Number of players: 4

The objective of the game is to be able to collect maximum sets of cards. A set is to collect all the four cards of different suites of a particular number.The game starts with the players all being dealt 5 cards each. The Player asks for a specific card from one of the other players by specifying their name and the card details. The player asking should already have at least 1 card with him of what number he asked. The person being asked, if they do have the cards requested, should hand them over. If a player does not have the cards being asked for, the player must say “go fish” and it’s now his/her chance to play/ask for a card. The Player who asked for the card, can now draw a card from the draw pile in the center. When all the sets have been made, the game is over. The sets of cards are counted at the end and the person with the most number of sets wins the game.

SESSION 1:

• Before the session: Remove all the kings, Queens and Jacks from the card packs and make sure the play arena is kept at hand. Now you are ready for the session.
• Place the board on the floor and ask children to sit one facing each of the four sides of the board.
• Deal 5 cards to each player.
• Explain to the children that their aim is to collect all 4 cards having the same number (for example, 5 of diamonds, 5 of clubs, 5 of hearts and 5 of spades). Whoever makes 2 sets first wins the game.
• Ask the children to start the game. Each child, when it is their turn, can ask any player for cards of a specific number. For example: “Aishwarya, give me all your 5s”. The person asking should already have at least one 5 with them.
• The person being asked, if they do have the cards requested, should hand them over. If they do not have the cards, the child who asked gets another turn as well, and gets a chance again to ask for a specific number.
• If a player does not have the cards being asked for, the child who asked must “go fish” or draw a card from the draw pile in the center. Then it is the next player’s turn. (The next player is the one who said ‘go fish’).
• The game ends when any player makes 2 sets first. This player is the winner of the game.
• Play some more rounds of the game, while ensuring that the children understand the game.

SESSION 2:

• Ask the children if they remember the game.
• If there are any students who were absent from the previous session, ask the children to explain to him/her what the game is all about.
• When you think the children are clear about the rules, start playing. This time sit back and only help where absolutely necessary. Let the children figure out on their own.
• After 2 rounds of play, tell them that they will now continue the play until the draw pile is over. Then each of them would count their sets of cards and the person with the most number of sets wins the game.
• Make sure the children are able to form sets correctly. Help those who are not being able to do so.
• Play some more rounds of the game, while ensuring that you are more of an observer than a teacher.

• Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level)
• Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, card game 0, card identification
• Play arena: Standard
• Number of players: 4

The objective of the game is to be the first to reach 27 (or any number that has been decided beforehand). The game starts with the players all being dealt 2 cards each. Players then take turns to draw cards from the draw pile in the center (if necessary), until a player reaches 27 without spilling over. This player is the winner of the game.

SESSION 1:

• Before the session: Remove all the 10s from the card packs and make sure the play arena is kept at hand. Now you are ready for the session.
• In this session, it is advisable to race only up to a smaller number like 10 since it is the children’s first time playing the game.
• Explain the game to the children. Tell them that they are going to add up the numbers on the cards they get until someone reaches 10. Whoever reaches 10 without crossing over wins the game.
• Now, hand the pack to one of the children and ask him/her to deal 2 cards each to all participants.
• Gently guide the children through adding up their cards to see what numbers they have.
• Some children might be comfortable adding up the cards on their own, while some others may need help to add. Help those who do not know how to add correctly. Show them different strategies such as counting on the fingers, adding verbally, etc. Let the child choose the strategy he/she is most comfortable with.
• Since you are only racing to 10 today, some of the children might have already reached there.
• If there are children who have gone over 10, explain that those who go above the number are out of the game.
• If nobody has exactly the number 10 without going over, encourage those who are still in the game to pick a card from the middle.
• Ask them to add the number they got to the total of the 2 cards they already have. Again, assist those who need some help in adding.
• If time permits, play 2-3 more rounds of the game.

SESSION 2:

• Ask the children if they remember the game.
• If there are any students who were absent from the previous session, ask the children to explain to him/her what the game is all about.
• When you think the children are clear about the rules, start playing. This time sit back and only help where absolutely necessary. Let the children figure out on their own.
• After 2 rounds of play, tell them that they will now be racing to 20. That is, the person who reaches 20 first, without spilling over, wins the game.
• Make sure the children are able to add up their cards properly. Help those who are not being able to do so, but make sure that you are not adding up their cards for them.
• Play some more rounds of the game, while ensuring that you are more of an observer than a teacher.

SESSION 3:

• Today, play the same game but set 27 as the number to race towards.
• This time, do not help children with their addition. Encourage them to use the strategies mentioned previously, to add up their cards.

SESSION 4:

• Play 2-3 rounds of the game as before.
• Now, introduce a small change in the way the game is played. After dealing 2 cards each, instead of all the children picking up 1 card each from the draw pile, the children can be given an option of whether or not to pick up another card. After every child has decided and picked cards (some children will also pick up cards, go over 27 and be out of the game), the child whose cards are closest to 27 wins the game.

• Prerequisites: Counting
• Play arena:
• Number of players: 2, 4

Ludo is a classic board game for two to four players. The objective of the game is to bring all the 4 tokens into the home triangle. While playing ludo, children develop creative ways of solving problems, forming strategies and calculate probability. It teaches good sportsmanship, teamwork, the importance of taking turns, decision making, and furthermore instills in children the spirit of competitiveness in a proper way. It is an effective tool which develops a child’s numeracy skills as well as their positional language.

It is a modified and simpler version of an Indian game called ‘pachisi’. Each player is assigned a set of 4 tokens with different textures. The first player to bring all the tokens to the finish block wins the game.

SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION AND PRACTICE GAME USING SINGLE TOKEN

• Introduce the board to children. Allow them to explore the board.
• Explain the seating position of the players. If there are 2 players, they would sit opposite each other.
• Explain the position where each player would place their 4 tokens before starting the game.
• By holding their finger, make children explore the path in which they would have to navigate the board before reaching their home triangle.
• Demonstrate how to roll the dice and read the number on top of the dice.
• Explain the rules of the game. The facilitator can choose to introduce Rule no. 1, 2, 4 & 5 only and start the practice game (mentioned below) and then continue to introduce rule no. 3 as and when the game is progressing.
  1. Players take turns to throw the dice in a clockwise order. A player must throw a 6 or 1 on the dice to move a token from the starting position onto the first square on the track. The token is now said to be in ‘play’ and can start moving on the board.
  2. The player rolls the dice again and starts moving the token in the direction as shown earlier. Then the dice is passed on to the next player.
  3. When the player throws a 6, they are allowed another turn to throw the dice. If a player does not throw a 6 in their turn and has no piece in ‘play’ on the board, then the player forfeits their turn and the next player takes their turn. If a 6 is rolled three times in a row, the player loses his turn.
  4. When a token has circumnavigated the board, it proceeds towards the home triangle. A token can only be moved onto the home triangle by an exact throw.
  5. The first person to move all 4 tokens into the home triangle wins the game.
• Practice Game: Inform players that for this game, they will be using a single token instead of 4 tokens. Now, place the token at the start position and begin playing as explained.
• Facilitator would observe whether children are using any strategies of their own while playing the game.

SESSION 2: PLAYING THE GAME WITH 2 PLAYERS (4TOKENS)

• Ensure that children have understood the rules well and they are comfortable with the board. Inform that today they would play with all the 4 tokens instead of 1 token.
  • The first player rolls the dice and checks if the number shows six. If no, then hand over the dice to the player sitting on the right.
  • If yes, then pick one token and place it on the starting position. Roll the dice again and start moving forward by counting the number of spaces as shown on the dice. Ask children to recite as they move forward.
  • They continue to play the game and the first player to place all the 4 tokens into the home triangle wins the game.

SESSION 3: PLAYING THE GAME WITH 2 PLAYERS WITH MORE RULES

• Once children are comfortable playing with all the 4 tokens on the board, introduce the following 3 rules here:
  • If a token lands on a square occupied by an opponent’s token, the opponent token is returned to its starting position. The returned token may only be reentered into play when the owner rolls a 6 or 1 on the dice again.
  • If a player’s token lands on another of their own pieces, they are doubled and form a “block” which cannot be passed by any opponent’s pieces.
  • Doubled tokens may move half the number if an even number is thrown e.g. move 2 spaces if a 4 is thrown.
• Continue to play the game keeping in mind the new rules.
• At this point, the facilitator can teach some of the strategies of the game while leaving the decision making to the players themselves:
  • For example, after starting the game with one token, if they get another 6, it is up to them to either take out another token to the start position or they can continue running the token which is already out.
  • It is advisable to open all the tokens, as soon as one gets the chance.
    Analyse what number can lead one to the best place and what number will let you send the opponent home.
  • Keep the token which is nearer to the victory at some safe place and move it with bigger numbers. Invest smaller numbers on pieces that are just beginning to run out of house.
  • If you have a number that is no good in any of your pieces, move the piece that is nearest to the starting point.
  • Be confident about yourself, take time to think the best move possible, think, rethink and then play.
• Continue playing until all the 4 tokens and by following all the rules and strategies.

SESSION 4: PLAYING WITH 4 INDEPENDENT PLAYERS

• Start the game as usual after ensuring everyone is thorough with the rules of the game and has played with one opponent several times.
• Let children decide who will and start how they want to proceed.
• Ask children if they remember the strategies shared already or they can come up with new strategies if they want to while playing the game.
• Continue until all the players reach the end point. The first player to move all the tokens to the home triangle wins the game.

SESSION 5: PLAYING WITH 4 PLAYERS, TEAMWORK

• Inform children that this time they are forming teams of two players and playing the game.
  Rules for team playing are:
  • Players from the same team do not “cut” each other’s tokens.
  • One player can remind his/her team mate to kill any opponent which is closer to
• The facilitator would make note of the strategies used by the children while playing the game or they should be allowed to share their strategies after they finish playing the game.

• Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level)
• Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, identifying suits
• Play arena: Standard
• Number of players: 4

The objective of the game is to collect all cards of the same type (suit). One child is then asked to distribute the entire card pack equally among the four children. Then out of the 4 children in the group, 1 is assigned diamonds, another hearts, one club and the last spades. The players are provided one turn to ask for a missing card in their suite. The game ends when each child has collected all the cards (ace to 10) of the suite they had been assigned.

SESSION 1:

• Before the session: Take Junior cards and remove all the Jokers, King, Queen and Jack from the pack.
• Children are grouped into 4 and will be seated as per the standard arena.
• Introduce all 4 different suits Diamond, Club, Heart and Spade to the children.
• Then give one particular suit to each of them from ace to 10 which are shuffled.Keep those cards on each of their respective slots given in an arena.
• Then they have to count and identify the number on the card, through Braille or by counting the tactile dots on the cards.
• Let them arrange all the cards in an order.
• So, by the end of session 1, they should be able to arrange the cards based on the numbers and have to identify which particular suit they got.

SESSION 2:

• Use the same junior cards. let one of the children distribute equally among all 4 children in the arena.
• Then explain to the children that they have to collect all cards of the same type (or suite).
• Assign a child for each suit such that, out of the 4 children in the group, 1 is assigned diamonds, another hearts, one club and the last spades.
• The children are provided one turn to ask for a missing card in their suite. The child who has the card hands it over to the child who had asked, and that child now asks for a card that he/she doesn’t have.
• The game continues till the first child makes all the numbers (1-10) in the particular suit. Who is the winner and the game continues.
• The game ends when each child has collected all the cards (ace to 10) of the suite they had been assigned.
• If they have a card another person is asking for, it is mandatory for them to hand it over.
• Then after getting all the cards of the same suit, they need to arrange the cards in an ascending order.

SESSION 3:

• In this session, use the standard cards and also introduce king, queen and jack.
• So, in addition to these 3 cards. Follow the same instructions there in session 2 and play with the children.

SESSION 4:

• The game can be modified such that each child collects 5 cards of a particular suite (either 1-5 or 6-10).
• One of the participants will distribute 5 cards to each of them. Let all 4 of them select a particular suit that they have to collect.
• Then each of them will get their turns to pick from and discard the cards from the respective slots of the board which is kept in the centre.
• Whoever collects all 5 cards of the same suit will win the game. I.e. they can have either hearts from 1 to 5 or 3 to 8 or 6 to 10 etc.

• Prerequisites: Reading comprehension, basic operations of mathematics.
• Play arena: A familiar place with less obstructions.
• Number of players: 6-8

The objective of the game is to solve all the clues/questions and be the first to solve the last clue to get the treasure. The game starts by giving them their first clue/question, after solving each clue they would get their next clue. Whoever solves the last clue first would get the treasure and is the winner of the game.

SESSION 1:

• Form 3 or 4 groups, 2 students in each group.
• Explain to them that they have to read and solve each clue/question and after solving that clue they will get their next clue which would take them close to the treasure.
• After solving their final clue they would get the treasure.
• Make sure the clues are simple and include calculations/concepts with which the children are familiar.
• Also after each clue, mention the navigation part and description of where the next clue is. For example: enter the main door, turn to your left and walk 5-6 steps and you will find a table, you next clue will be inside the box which is on the table.
• Some children might be comfortable in moving around or in solving the clues, while some others may need some help to move or to comprehend the clues. Help those who are not being able to do so.
• The game ends when the last clue is being solved, whoever solves the last clue first, would get the treasure and is the winner of the game.

SESSION 2:

• Ask the children if they remember the game.
• If there are any students who were absent from the previous session, ask the children to explain to him/her what the game is all about.
• When you think the children are clear about the rules, start playing. This time sit back and only help where absolutely necessary. Let the children figure out on their own.
• Make sure the children are solving the clues correctly. You can change the clues for each game and include questions related to concepts which are already being introduced to the children.

• Material: Tangrams.
• Prerequisites: Counting, identifying shapes
• Number of players: Any number

• A tangram is a two-dimensional re-arrangement puzzle created by cutting a square into seven pieces. Seven geometric shapes called “tans”
• These tangram shapes can be fitted together as a large square, rectangle, or triangle. They can also be arranged in a variety of complex shapes, including fanciful ones.There are many ways to play with tangrams. The simplest way is to let kids create their own complex shapes. But traditionally, tangrams are treated as puzzles.
• Tangrams offer kids an excellent opportunity to test out different geometric manipulations, also number sense and become familiar with the properties of the shapes they use.
• But notice the triangles-big, medium, and small or are all the same shape.

SESSION 1:

• Give them the tangrams and let them explore the shapes.
• Ask them how many different shapes that they come across and which they are. Also ask them how many small, medium and big shapes are there.
• Ask them to create any design/shape that they want to. Once it is completed ask them how many shapes they have used.
• Give the same number to the whole class, so that they have to take only those many shapes and create their own design and later explain one by one what they have done.

SESSION 2:

• Ask the students to pick Braille number chit from the bag/bowl and see what number they have got and only those many shapes they have to consider and make a design out of it.
• Once they are done, ask them what shape/design they did.
• For the one who doesn’t know to read Braille, orally give them the numbers and follow the same instructions.

SESSION 3:

• In the beginning ask them if they can create one story by arranging tangram shapes and narrate it to their friends, teacher.
• Otherwise, tell them a small interesting story for which they have to create characters of the story and show it to the teacher/facilitator.

SESSION 4:

• Ask the students, if they can give examples for in and around or in their surrounding the shapes they have seen in tangrams.
• Ask them to take a random number of shapes without counting and make it two groups.
• From each group they should create one story. And later see which story had used more shapes.
• Take only 10 shapes and divide it into two groups and hold it in both the hands. Show them one hand, let them count the number of pieces it has, then ask them how many pieces will be there in the other hand.
• Similarly, ask them to pair up themselves and do it with each other.

SESSION 5:

• Once they are completely familiar with the tangrams, ask them to sort the tangrams. Let it be based on shapes, structure, length, size etc.
• Then once they are done with sorting they will have a few groups and ask them what they can from each different group of tangrams. Then based on what features they sorted or grouped those tangrams.
• Ask them to use only two kinds of shapes and make anything out of it pattern/design/bigger shapes

• Material: Beads of two different textures, Thread
• Prerequisites: Counting, Number recognition
• Number of players: Any number

The Ganit Mala comprises a string of 100 large beads, with number markers which can hang from it. Children learn how the numbers to 100 fit on to this and can use it for finding which are greater and smaller. It is also useful for addition, subtraction. The Ganit mala is used in the primary classes as well.
Doing structured counting by using patterns of tens

• Extending patterns in sequence of numbers
• For patterns in different ways of splitting a number
• Mental Arithmetic
• Addition and Subtraction of 2-digit numbers mentally
• Number sense and operations from 0-100
• Hands-on experience of counting on the mala (Intuitively understanding before/after)
• Hands-on experience of grouping objects into tens and ones

SESSION 1:

• Give them the beads and thread and ask them to make mala how long they want.
• Later ask each of them how many beads are there in their mala.
• Next give them the Braille number chits and ask them to pick a chit and choose those many beads and make mala.
• Then can have a discussion about whose mala is longer and shorter.
• Once they are done in making mala, ask them if everybody has 25 beads in it. Whoever says they have more build a discussion that they subtract few beads to reach the target and similarly whoever says they have less will add to it to reach the target.
• After knowing the sequence and counting in the same ganithmala children can also do back counting.

SESSION 2:

• Now provide them the two different textured beads and ask them to make mala using those two types, such that without counting one by one they should be able to tell how many beads are there in total in the mala.
• Ask them who will count and tell the total number of beads with less time. At the beginning ask them to count by grouping two beads at a time then continue in the same way.
• Similarly, ask them if there is a possibility that they take much less time than this and can count the total number of beads and how will we do it.
• Ask them to create mala of any pattern using the two different textured beads.

SESSION 3:

• Once they have the mala, give a particular number and ask them how many beads they need to cross to reach the desired bead from the first bead in the ganit mala. Then explain to them how far or near is that number from number 1. Also ask them to show the previous and next numbers. Then explain to them that the previous number is before and the next number is after.
• Later, ask them to make ornaments like necklace, bangle, bracelet, anklets with the beads and count how many beads each requires to make each ornament.

SESSION 4:

Elephant and tiger game: two children will play this game with ganithmala by holding it from both ends; children can be named with any funny names (animal, flower, cartoon, etc). Each of them will be asked to count and fix the number card with a number given to them on the ganithmala.
Usually children tend to start counting from where they are holding their beads. This activity is for number representation and to tell them that we always start counting from left to right.
Then as an activity, ask the children to show 15th beads and observe or ask from where they will start counting to go to 15th bead.
Similarly, ask to show numbers greater than 50 and closer to 100, ask them how they will find them. hence, whichever number is closer to 100 will count down from 100 to locate the desired number.
Which also shows the estimation.

SESSION 5 (KLI – DNR.1A)

• Tie Ganitmala having beads from 1 to 100 and take Braille dice.
• Make a group of two children and ask one of them to roll a dice. Whatever number they get on dice, they have to place a clip on Ganit Mala after so many beads.
• The other child will note down the number on Taylor frame by looking at Ganit Mala . This will be their score.
• Next when they get their turn to roll a dice for the second time and place a clip on Ganit Mala, they need to start from the previous number which they have to remember. And the other child will note down the present number as well as the total score by adding the first and second number.
• Similarly, the rest of the groups will do the same when their turn comes.
• Whichever group reaches 100 first will win the game.

SESSION 6 (KLI – SA3.2A)

• Teacher will give the numbers to be multiplied and ask students how they are going to multiply 2 numbers with the help of Ganitmala and number catchers.
• Example: 2 times 3, and if they are using number catcher 2 which holds only 2 beads in it and they have to measure 3 times each time holding 2 beads. At the end they will reach the 6th bead which will be the answer.
• They can also do it mentally.
• Set up a time to answer the question asked by the teacher, so that students have to answer within the fixed time. Whoever is able to give the answer within the time, ask them to verify it through Ganitmala with the help of a catcher. And the one who was not able to answer within the fixed time, build a discussion among them and see are there any other methods which take less time than doing repeated addition to multiply the numbers.

SESSION 7: (KLI – SA2.3C, SA2.3D)

• Teacher /facilitator will roll 4 Braille dice. Students can pair numbers however they want and should multiply them and give the answers.

Example: numbers on dice are 1, 4, 6, 3

• Student 1 will multiply 14 and 63, student 2 will multiply 31 and 46 and student 3 will multiply 43 and 16 and so on.
• Ask each one of the students how they multiply and discuss with the whole group.
• Then the facilitator can also ask them to multiply the smallest two digit numbers and greatest two digit numbers for the digits once after the facilitator rolls the dice.