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Make Ten: An Easy Game For Kindergarten Students (free printable)

Knowing how to make ten is an important skill for your Kinders to master. Click through to grab a free printable game that invites students to practice making ten. It is easy to prep and fun to play, so add it to your classroom resources today.

Building addition fluency is such an important skill for Kinders! Being able to add,  without counting on fingers, starts with the ability to quickly identify the number of items in a small set without counting. The next building block requires learning the combinations for 5 and 10.

However, we don’t want our Kinders to simply memorize the number facts. We want them to REALLY UNDERSTAND how the numbers work so that they can start to develop number fluency. So for example if a student experiments and discovers that 4 + 6 =10, they can eventually go onto add higher numbers in their head.

Think of the skills that are involved in adding 4+7. There are a number of ways we can reach the answer. We may think

  • 4+6=10 and 7 is 1 more than 6, so 4+7 = 6+4=10 +1 = 11
  • Or we can split the 7 into 6 and 1, use the 4 with the 6 to make 10, and add on the extra 1.

Both paths require a mental process and an understanding that 6+4=10. This kind of fluency begins with lots of hands-on experience with ten frames, objects and drawing. Ten-frames are wonderful tools, aren’t they?  They allow the students to see and experience (as they place the manipulatives on the frame) how two numbers add up to ten. That is how the connections are made and fluency develops. To help you provide some hands-on learning, here’s a quick game that will help your students practice combinations for 10, using manipulatives, cards, and ten frames

You can use this game in a math center or have it on hand for early finishers. If you have students that need extra practice, you can direct parents to this post and they can make their own copy.

The best part is that it requires very little prep and is easy to set up.

Teacher’s Tip: Have you heard of the mathematical learning disability Dyscalculia? My son has it and one of the first symptoms was his inability to learn his number facts. He simply couldn’t manage them, no matter what we tried. If you have students that are really struggling with basic math, they may have this learning disability. Learn more here.

Make ten square

MATERIALS NEEDED

  • Printable playing mat, cards, and manipulatives (below)
  • Cardstock
  • Copy paper
  • Laminator (optional)
game ready to play

GETTING THE GAME READY

  1. Download the free file (below).
  2. Print the playing mats, cards, and manipulatives (beads) onto cardstock and laminate for durability.
  3. Print the recording sheets onto paper.
  4. Cut out the playing cards and manipulatives.
  5. If you prefer you can use actual red/ green beads or counters.
game in use

PLAYING MAKE TEN

  1. Shuffle the cards and place face them down on the deck rectangle.
  2. Sort the manipulatives into reds and greens
  3. Turn over a card and read the number. Place that many red beads on the ten frame.
  4. Use the green beads to fill in the rest of the frame to make ten.
  5. Fill in the worksheet by coloring in the beads and then complete the number sentence.
  6. Repeat until the worksheet is full.

This activity goes well with:

MORE RESOURCES TO PRACTICE ADDITION FACTS

YOUR TURN

What are your favorite activities for teaching children to make 10? Leave a comment below.

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