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Teachers often give the excuse that their Mathematics lessons are Talk-and-Chalk in nature because they simply have none of the impressive Mathematics manipulatives that rich schools could afford. They have failed to realize that Mathematics is indeed around them, and what better way is there than to know how to make Mathematics manipulatives from recycled materials?

Take a look around the room that your computer is placed, or if you are at a cafe or fast food restaurant, you are in for a greater surprise. There are indeed many items that you can recycle and make good use of, to help your pupils concretise Mathematics learning, and have a fun and experiential learning environment, rather than just memorising formulas and problem-solving steps or purchasing tons of commercially produced Mathematics manipulatives that soon become white elephants or get stolen by creative pupils who choose to use them for other purposes.

Mathematics manipulatives range from simple countables to sophisticated electronic measurement machines. Here are some ways your recycled materials can be turned into Mathematics manipulatives, often without much cost and with little sweat from yourself. Parents and older school children are more than willing to lend a hand, if you know how to buy them in. Your manipulatives could cost as little as ten dollars for a pot of hot coffee and delicious doughnuts from the neighborhood bakery, or baked by another parent helper.

What makes great countables? Children get bored easily. Yet they learn Mathematics best when they layer on knowledge that is related to what they are at home with and what they know best. Bread clips, also know as bread tags, bread tabs, bread-bag clips or bread ties, come with the bread stored in plastic bags. Ask the pupil population of your school to bring in their bread clips for a year, and you will have sufficient to last years.

Have a box placed somewhere noticeable in your school grounds, and your school pupils will not only be learning how to recycle, but they will also be contributing to better Mathematics results in your school. Because they are in abundance, spoilt ones can be replaced easily - without adding a single cent to the stretched school budget.

How do the humble bread clips contribute to Mathematics learning? Not only do they make better countables than rolling marbles, because of their standard square or rectangular sizes, they can be placed squarely on a table and arranged in neat rows. Because bread clips

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