Make Ten

Ten is the keystone of our number system, and “what goes with this to make 10?” is one of the most useful questions in early maths. A ten-frame (two rows of five) or a string of ten beads makes the missing partner visible.

  1. Draw or print a ten-frame — a 2×5 grid of boxes. Or thread 10 beads on a pipe cleaner or shoelace for a “number bracelet.”
  2. Put some counters in the frame (or slide some beads to one side) — say 6. Ask: “How many more to make 10?”
  3. The child fills the empty boxes (or slides the rest of the beads) and counts them: “4 more!” Say the pair aloud: “6 and 4 make 10.”
  4. Change the start number and repeat: 7 needs 3, 8 needs 2, 9 needs 1. Collect the partners like a set.
  5. Optional: keep a “rainbow to 10” chart, linking each pair (0 and 10, 1 and 9, 2 and 8…) with an arc.

Variation: roll a 10-sided die (or draw a card 1–9), place that many counters, and finish the ten in a second colour. Flash a partly filled frame for a moment and ask how many are missing (subitising the gap).

Requirements

  • Space: A small table or lap space
  • Surface: Flat surface for the frame; a bead bracelet works anywhere, even in the car
  • Materials: A printed or drawn ten-frame and 10 counters (two colours help), or 10 beads on a pipe cleaner or lace; optional 10-sided die or number cards 1–9
  • Participants: 1 adult and 1 child; small groups can each fill their own frame
  • Supervision: Light for 5-year-olds; close with beads or small counters near children who mouth objects

Rationale & Objective

Knowing the pairs that make 10 is a linchpin skill: Common Core gives it its own standard (K.OA.4 — for any number 1–9, find the number that makes 10) because “making ten” later powers efficient addition and place value (for example 8 + 5 via 8 + 2 + 3). The ten-frame is the tool early-maths researchers most recommend for this, because its five-and-ten structure lets children see the missing part instead of counting for it, building the subitising and part-whole sense described by Clements and Sarama and by Van de Walle’s Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics. Repeated “how many more to make 10?” turns the partners of ten into recalled facts rather than re-counted ones.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: fills the rest of the frame by counting the empty boxes one at a time, and may not yet hold “10” as the goal
  • Developing: counts on from the start number to 10 to find the missing part (“6… 7, 8, 9, 10 — that’s 4”); reliable with a frame in front of them
  • Proficient: names the partner for several numbers fairly quickly using the frame, and is starting to recall pairs like 5-and-5 or 8-and-2 by heart
  • Advanced: knows most or all partners of 10 from memory without the frame, and uses make-ten to help with other sums

Safety Notes

  • Beads and small counters are choking hazards for children who still mouth objects — supervise closely and tidy them away afterward
  • Anchor a bead string so it can’t become a tightenable loop around fingers or neck; keep cords short and supervised
  • Keep sessions brief; if the child is counting every box with no sense of the target, return to smaller numbers and concrete counting

Hints

  • Playfulness: call them “friends of 10” or “ten’s partners,” and cheer when a pair clicks; a rainbow chart that fills in over days gives the feel of collecting a set
  • Sustain interest: alternate tools — ten-frame one day, bead bracelet the next, fingers (two hands) another; turn it into “I say 7, you say 3” call-and-response while walking
  • Common mistake: moving to abstract “7 plus what is 10?” before the child can see it on a frame. Keep the visual until the partners start coming from memory
  • Limited space: a bead bracelet or two hands needs no table and works in the car or queue; ten fingers are always with you
  • Cross-domain: threading beads builds fine-motor skills; the two-colour frame links to patterning; the rainbow-to-10 chart connects to art and colour
  • Progression: fill the frame by counting → count on to 10 → recall partners with the frame → “I say a number, you say its partner” without the frame → use make-ten to solve bigger sums

Sources

  • Common Core K.OA.A.4 (for any number 1–9, find the number that makes 10)
  • Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S. & Bay-Williams, J. M. Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics: Pre-K–2. Pearson
  • Clements, D. H. & Sarama, J. (2014/2021). Learning and Teaching Early Math: The Learning Trajectories Approach (3rd ed.). Routledge
  • Richardson, K. (1999/2012). Developing Number Concepts, Book 2: Addition and Subtraction. Pearson
  • Head Start ELOF — Mathematics Development (P-MATH 6: addition and subtraction)
  • HighScope KDI 33 (Part-whole relations — combining and separating quantities)