You can use the strval() function to convert a number to a string.
From a maintenance perspective its obvious what you are trying to do rather than some of the other more esoteric answers. Of course, it depends on your context.
$var = 5;
// Inline variable parsing
echo "I'd like {$var} waffles"; // = I'd like 5 waffles
// String concatenation
echo "I'd like ".$var." waffles"; // I'd like 5 waffles
// The two examples above have the same end value...
// ... And so do the two below
// Explicit cast
$items = (string)$var; // $items === "5";
// Function call
$items = strval($var); // $items === "5";
