Free for teachers
Virtual math manipulatives
Ask Sparky for base ten blocks, fraction strips, pattern blocks, algebra tiles, a geoboard or a number line, and get a manipulative your students can drag and build with on any screen.
Used by 250,000+ teachers, and built to FERPA, COPPA and GDPR standards.
How Sparky builds a virtual manipulative
Name the manipulative and the grade
Type one line, such as "base ten blocks my 2nd graders can drag around". Add the skill you're teaching if you have one, like regrouping or equivalent fractions.
Get pieces students can move
Sparky builds the manipulative beside the chat: a tray of pieces, a space to work in, and labels or counts that change as students move pieces.
Ask for a change
Ask for a number to build, a trade button or a second row, and Sparky changes the same manipulative. Project it, or share it with your class.
Manipulatives Sparky can build
Base ten blocks
Hundreds, tens and ones that students drag onto a workspace, with a count of each and the total. Ten ones trade for a ten, and the total stays the same.
Fraction strips and fraction bars
A fraction wall from one whole down to twelfths. Students line pieces up under the whole to see that 2/4 is exactly as long as 1/2.
Pattern blocks
Hexagons, trapezoids, rhombuses and triangles that students drag and turn to cover a shape or find how many triangles make a hexagon.
Algebra tiles
Unit tiles, x tiles and x² tiles in positive and negative colors, for modeling expressions and seeing a positive and a negative tile cancel.
Geoboard
A grid of pegs where students stretch bands from peg to peg to make shapes and find their area and perimeter.
Number line
A line students jump along to add and subtract, with each jump drawn as an arc and labeled with its size.
What students can do with them
Pieces from a tray that never runs out
Students drag a piece from the tray to the workspace, move it again, or remove it. The tray refills, so there are always more.
Totals that update as students build
Counts and labels change with every move, such as the number of tens and the total, or 1/4 turning into 2/4.
A number to build, checked
Ask for a challenge and Sparky adds a number to build. When the blocks match it, students see a celebration, and New Number gives them another.
Buttons for every move
Students who can't drag can press a piece in the tray to add it, and use buttons to remove a piece or move a row.
Print it or share it
Press Print for a paper copy of what's on screen, or Share to open the manipulative to your class.
Changes made to the same manipulative
Ask Sparky for a change and it updates the manipulative in place. The arrows above it go back to earlier versions.
Data privacy
Safe to use with student work
What happens to the files you upload and what your students write in Flint.
Not used to train AI
Student data in Flint is never used to train AI models.
Not shared
Flint does not share student data, or any other user data, with third parties.
Kept separate
Each school's data is kept apart from every other school's, and the AI providers Flint runs on can't reach it.
Signed agreements, on request
Flint signs a data processing agreement with any school that needs one, written to US state law and EU GDPR.
What teachers say about Flint
"My students are able to engage in interactive lessons that challenge them without overwhelming them. AI has made it easier for them to understand concepts by providing immediate feedback, allowing them to learn from their mistakes in real-time."
Rooban Arumugam
Lower School Math and English Teacher at SJK(T) Selama
"I have used Flint as a differentiated tool to help with different levels of math skills in my classroom. These activities really helped them come up to the standard of what we are working on right now. This was super helpful."
Lakshmi Saravanan
Math Teacher at American International School Chennai
"Overall, my life has become much easier and streamlined with Flint. Flint has allowed me to spend less time planning and more time focusing on student interaction and reflection."
Bradley Evans
6th Grade Math Teacher at American School of Milan
Frequently asked questions
Are these virtual manipulatives free?
Yes, they're free for teachers.
What are math manipulatives?
Objects students move to model a math idea, such as blocks for place value or strips for fractions. Virtual manipulatives work the same way on a screen, so a whole class can see the same pieces on the board.
What are base ten blocks?
Ones are small cubes, tens are rods of ten cubes and hundreds are flats of one hundred. Students build a number from them, and trading ten ones for a ten shows what regrouping means.
Can students use them on their own devices?
Yes. Press Share and open the manipulative to one of your classes, or to anyone with the link. Students open it on their own screens and move the pieces themselves.
Can I print a manipulative?
Press Print above it to print it as it looks on screen. For cut-out fraction strips or a paper number line, ask Sparky for a printable version.
Can I change a manipulative after Sparky makes it?
Yes. Ask for a number to build, a trade button or bigger pieces, and Sparky updates the same manipulative. The arrows above it go back to earlier versions.
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