About Us

Primary Teaching Resources for Maths in the Classroom

In 1996, when Sweet Counter was founded, teaching resources for Maths were mainly limited to wood, (Diennes apparatus), plastic (Unifix) and home made card covered in sticky back plastic and with lots of creases. It took teachers HOURS and HOURS to produce their visual images to make their lessons interesting and easy for children to learn.

Purely by chance Sweet Counter was started by an experienced practising teacher who forgot to take in the straws to teach place value. Thatcher the ‘free milk snatcher’ had taken the milk, and straws were in every cupboard and ideal to teach hundreds, tens and units. During the coffee break, she cut out card jars of sweets to represent hundreds, boxes to represent tens and individual sweets to represent units. Within the morning session eyes began to light up as they saw the concept and understood the value of number. These cards illustrating geometric sweets, use a currency that children understand.

Sweet Counter Place Value cards were born.

Early Years Maths

Early Years Maths was never quite the same again. The company known as Sweet Counter soon developed a range of fun, colourful, child centred practical card resources.

Pizzas, pies and puds were used to explain fractions with Flip flap Fractions and tarts for Start Fractions. Digit Pop Ups, Busy Boats, Zillions, Wish Fish, Lady Bugs, all teach facts to 10, but with a different emphasis.

Our most recent, by request is a Monster Number Line to 30, which can become a Number Line to 50 or even 100.

Our X-Planes will EXPLAIN all those Early Years Maths concepts, and our Footie Facts make every boy concentrate. Lots more products on the way.

Multiplication Rainbox
This multiplication rainbow redesigns the tables square or matrix into an adaptable and easy to read format.

Remember the squares where you would put one finger on 4 at the top, and 6 at the side and slide your fingers to where they meet, and there was 24??

The rainbow arranges the multiples of tables 1 to 12, in a VERTICAL fan around the rainbow, but the patterns can also be seen HORIZONTALLY around the various colours.

They have been a great success and appreciated by all, and are now available in 4 sizes, including one for the playground.

Primary Teaching Resources for the Playground

In 2002, a further unique aspect of the company was developed with our educational Playground Pictures range. Maths and literacy information was placed on external PVC wall fixtures so transforming playgrounds in a matter of hours.

Thus, Playground Pictures introduces Early Years Maths and Literacy to the playground or garden wall: rabbits, caterpillars, flowers, bees, stars, etc with valuable information for all to use.

Glue, screw or nail to walls and fences and transform these areas into teaching, learning and assessment zones.

Primary Teaching Resources – What’s New?

Currently our Early Years Resources are concentrating on BOYS. and We are often asked for a number line to 30. We have this as a Times Line with letters of the alphabet on the reverse.

The number line has the multiplication facts highlighted with circles for 3 times tables and squares for the 4 times tables, so that for instance, 12 and 24 will have both as it comes on both tables.

We now have a monster Number Line to 30, which can become a Number Line to 50 or even 100. Our X-Planes will EXPLAIN number lines, missing numbers, and all those Early Years Maths concepts.

Footie Facts have been really well received. They make every boy concentrate on the digits and bonds to 10 or doubles.

In 2013 Sweet Counter was bought by Eastpoint and continues to operate today.