There is a particular kind of planning session that every primary teacher knows. The one where you need a quick, engaging maths warm-up for tomorrow, something visual for place value, and a different way to practise multiplication facts for the group who are not quite there yet. You know what you want to achieve. You just need a tool that actually delivers it without taking an hour to set up.
Digital maths tools have changed what is possible in a primary classroom.
The best ones make differentiation manageable, give students immediate feedback, and let you project rich visual representations of concepts that used to require a tub of physical manipulatives and a lot of setup time.
This post covers the digital maths tools inside The Hive that Australian primary teachers use every day, and how to slot them into your existing maths block without adding more to your plate.
Why Digital Tools Work for Maths Instruction
Maths concepts often make the most sense when students can see and interact with them. A number line is more powerful when students can watch skip counting happen visually. Place value clicks faster when students can manipulate representations on screen. Ten frames come alive as a whole-class warm-up on an interactive whiteboard in a way a printed worksheet never quite manages.
Just as important is what happens during independent practice. When students work with a tool that gives immediate feedback, they are not waiting for you to check their work before they know whether they are on the right track. That frees you up to pull a small group or run targeted intervention while the rest of the class practises meaningfully.
The key with any digital maths tool is the same as with any teaching resource. Does it reinforce the concept you have explicitly taught, or does it ask students to work things out without the foundation? The tools worth your time are the ones that build on your teaching.
Not replace it.
Digital Maths Tools Worth Using in Your Primary Classroom
The Hive includes more than 100 digital learning tools across literacy and numeracy. The maths tools are built around visual representations and evidence-based teaching approaches. They are designed to work on an interactive whiteboard for whole-class instruction, and on student devices during rotations.
Whether you're introducing a new concept, running rotations or looking for a five-minute warm-up, there's a tool to fit almost every part of your maths block.
Here are some of the digital maths tools primary teachers reach for most often.
Number of the Day
Number of the Day is one of the most versatile tools in The Hive's maths library. You choose a number and the activity spider opens it up into different representations for your class to investigate together.
It is a brilliant daily maths warm-up in Foundation to Year 3. Students see a number pulled apart in different ways every morning, which quietly builds number sense and mathematical language over the weeks. Once you've chosen the number, you're ready to begin. It is the kind of routine you can actually keep up all term. If you like the concept for independent work too, our printable Number of the Day activity cards run the same routine off-screen.
Ten Frames
The Ten Frames tool lets you drag and drop multi-colour counters onto a 5, 10 or 20 frame. It is made for the Foundation and Year 1 work of building numbers to 10 and 20.
Projected on the whiteboard, it gives the whole class a shared visual to talk about.During small-group work, students can manipulate the counters themselves.That means they're building genuine conceptual understanding - not just following a procedure.
Hundred Square
The Hundred Square is a 10 by 10 grid you can click to colour, double click to hide, and set with an autohide pattern. There is a random number generator built in to challenge your class on the spot.
This is one of those tools you'll end up using far more often than you expected. Foundation and Year 1 use it for number recognition and counting. Year 2 and 3 lean on it for patterns, multiples and skip counting. Older students keep it handy as a reference during mental computation. For hands-on place value alongside it, our free Place Value Mats are a lovely printable companion.
Number Line
The Arithmetic Number Line lets students practise arithmetic on a visual line, with the option to hide selected numbers or hide them at random. A projected number line has always been a staple of good maths teaching. Having a digital one means it is clean, readable and easy to work with in real time, and you can turn it into a quick guessing challenge whenever you need a five-minute filler.
Tic Tac Toe
Tic Tac Toe takes the game every child already knows and adds a learning twist. Students answer a maths question to claim their square, so it is always the maths earning the win rather than luck. Because you set the focus, it scales from early addition in Foundation right through to multiplication and division in upper primary. It is genuinely engaging, and it needs nothing from you beyond choosing the skill.
Flash Cards
Flash Cards work across both maths and literacy. In maths mode it shows automatically generated mathematical expressions, which makes it handy for timed fact practice, warm-ups and quick independent review.
Four in a Roll
Four in a Roll turns number fact practice into a simple two-player game. Set it to a numeracy skill and it becomes a quick, competitive way to rehearse number facts in pairs or teams.
New This Year: Drop These Tools Straight Into Your Slides
If it's been a while since you've used The Hive, this next update is worth knowing about. The slides editor has been rebuilt from the ground up, and you can now drop any of these maths tools straight onto a slide.
That means a number line and a hundred square side by side on the one slide for your place value lesson, or ten frames, base ten blocks and dice all together for a hands-on number talk. Your teaching visual and your interactive tool live in the same place, ready to go when the lesson starts. It is a small change that takes a surprising amount of faff out of setting up a maths lesson.
Here are some popular new digital maths tools that teachers are loving adding to their slides:
How to Fit Digital Maths Tools Into Your Existing Maths Block
These tools are designed to slot into what you are already doing, not to replace it.
A daily warm-up using Number of the Day or a quick round of Tic Tac Toe takes five to ten minutes and builds automaticity over time. During your explicit teaching, a projected Ten Frames or Hundred Square gives the whole class a visual anchor for the concept you are introducing. Small group rotations are where tools like the Number Line and Flash Cards do their best work independently, which is exactly when you want to be free to run a focus group without interruption.
Digital and Printable, Working Together
Digital tools do the heavy lifting during your lesson, but a good printable still has its place for independent work, homework and early finishers. You can explore our free classroom printables in The FreeBee Library, and if you want a ready-made scope of maths resources, our maths program bundles pull a whole term's worth together in one place.
What Makes a Digital Maths Tool Worth Using?
The question worth asking before you add any tool is whether it builds conceptual understanding or just tests procedural recall. A tool that flashes a sum and waits for an answer is doing less for your students than one that shows the concept visually and asks them to think about it.
The Hive's maths tools are built around visual representations and evidence-based approaches to number sense, so they tend to deepen understanding rather than just check for it. That is the difference between a tool that supports your teaching and one that only looks busy on a screen.
For more on how digital teaching tools fit into an Australian primary classroom, our guide to interactive teaching tools covers both literacy and numeracy in depth.
What digital maths tools are available inside The Hive?
The Hive includes more than 100 digital learning tools across literacy and numeracy. The maths tools are built around visual representations and evidence-based teaching approaches. They're designed to work on an interactive whiteboard for whole-class instruction, and on student devices during rotations.
Are the maths tools inside The Hive suitable for whole-class teaching?
Yes. The maths tools are designed for both whole-class instruction and independent student practice. Number of the Day, Hundred Square and Number Line work particularly well projected on an interactive whiteboard during explicit teaching, and you can now drop them straight into a slide in The Hive's rebuilt slides editor.
What year levels are The Hive's maths tools suitable for?
The maths tools span Foundation to Year 6. Number sense tools like Ten Frames and Number of the Day are most used in Foundation to Year 3. Tools like Tic Tac Toe and Flash Cards scale across every year level, depending on the skill and difficulty you choose.
Do the maths tools require any preparation before class?
Most tools need very little setup. Number of the Day just needs a number. Tic Tac Toe needs a skill selected. Flash Cards generates questions automatically. Most are ready to teach with in under two minutes.
Are The Hive's digital maths tools evidence-based?
Yes. The tools are built around visual representations and evidence-based approaches to number sense, including ten frames, hundred squares, number lines and place value representations that support conceptual understanding alongside procedural fluency.
How much does The Hive cost?
The Hive Standard plan is $10.83 per month on yearly billing, or $129.99 per year. The Unlimited plan, which adds the full Mrs Learning Bee resource library, is $13.33 per month on yearly billing, or $159.99 per year. Both plans include a free 14-day trial. Your card is not charged until after day 14, and you can cancel anytime before then.
Your Maths Block, Made Easier
The right digital maths tools do not add to your workload. They quietly take care of the parts that slow you down, like sourcing visual representations, setting up interactive activities, and finding something worthwhile for the students who finish early.
Everything in The Hive's maths toolkit lives in one place, works on any device, and is built around what evidence-based maths instruction actually looks like in a primary classroom.
Less time setting up. More time teaching.
Cancel anytime before day 14 and you won't be charged.
