Greater Than Less Than Symbols with Alligators

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Greater than less than symbols with alligators is a really fun beginning way to help little ones learn this math concept.

Years ago, when I was teaching greater than and less than symbols to my oldest son, we sewed a felt alligator mouth to help him with his math lesson. I have no idea where it is now, but I wanted to share the idea here since it is such a fun one!

My son came in the room as I was creating this printable, and remembered it right away. I love when you have a good lesson that really sticks in a child’s mind. This printable will help you do that with your kids or students.

Greater Than Less Than Symbols with Alligators

I created a printable game of sorts to help you use this with your kids. This greater than less than alligator math game includes a mat to place the numbers on, it has a center square to add the greater than, less than or equal sign in the center.

You can play this as a game with two players, like the game of war. Or you can use this for one student at a time to help them learn the greater than less than concept.

There are two styles of alligators in this printable. There is one shaped like an alligator head and one set with straight lines that look more like the actual symbols. I included al of them in both color and black and white.

Also included in this printable set are some large alligators you can use for sorting objects. Collect a pile of toys or other objects. Sort them into two piles and kids can count to figure out which pile has the bigger number. Use the alligator less than sign, greater than sign or equal sign in the center of the two piles once kids decide which number is greater.

How to Remember The Greater Than and Less Than Signs

Using the alligators is a great way to help kids remember when to use the greater than or the less than sign. The alligator wants to eat the larger number of fish, so its mouth opens to the larger number.

The other way I always remembered it is that the less than sign actually makes an L if the line were straightened up.

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See More of My Math Games:

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Homemade Pick-Up Sticks Math Game

Popsicle Stick Math Games