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30 Smart Place Value Activities and Games for Elementary Math Students

Place value pool noodles? Genius!

Place value is one of those basic concepts that help kids build a wide variety of math skills. There are lots of fun place value activities and games you can use to help them understand, whether you’re working with basic tens and ones or have advanced to decimals with tenths and hundredths. Here’s a terrific collection of ideas to add to your upcoming lesson plans!

1. Start with an anchor chart

Help students understand and remember four ways to represent numbers and place value with an anchor chart. Turning the chart into a robot ups the fun factor!

2. Read a book about place value

We’re not talking about the paragraph in their math workbook that explains the concept. We mean one of these engaging and entertaining place value books that capture kids’ imagination while helping them understand how place value works and why it matters. There are plenty of options out there—here are a few of our favorites.

• Zero the Hero , by Joan Holub and Tom Lichtenheld
• Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens , by Cindy Neuschwander
• Place Value , by David A. Adler

3. Turn paint samples into place value sliders

Use the cutouts in paint sample chips as little “windows” for numbers. This is a fun and colorful way to introduce place value to your students.

4. Show it four ways

Ask students to demonstrate their understanding of place value by showing one number in a variety of ways. Get a free printable worksheet for this activity at the link.

5. Transform a pillbox into a place value manipulative

Stop by the dollar store for some weekly pillbox containers, then use our free printable labels to turn them into dice shakers you can use for all kinds of place value activities.

6. Stack place value Cheerio towers

Looking for more inexpensive math class ideas? Grab a box of uncooked spaghetti and some Cheerios to use for your place value activities.

7. Visualize place value with a foldable

Use sentence strips and dry-erase tape to create a reusable math manipulative that reinforces place value concepts and expanded form.

8. Slide cards into binder pages

Use divided binder pages along with number and base-10 cards to show place value. Call out each digit and its place (“There’s a 3 in the thousands place”) and see if your students can make the correct number.

9. Construct a tower of base-10 blocks

Base-10 blocks are a popular math manipulative , and they’re perfect for teaching place value. This activity challenges kids to use the blocks to find three different ways to build a structure representing 1,000. New to base-10 blocks? Here’s a good starter set from Amazon to try.

10. Figure out the place value of your name

Here’s another clever use for base-10 blocks. First, have each student use them to spell out their name. Then, count up the numbers of tens and ones blocks to determine your name’s place value!

11. Stack paper cups

While you’re at the dollar store, pick up some stackable paper cups. Number them 1 to 9 along the edge, and then use them to talk about place value as you stack them to create different numbers.

12. Build place value bugs

How cute is this little number bug? Use large pom-poms for tens and smaller ones for ones, then set them on a wood craft stick to create a number.

13. Shoot for the target with LEGO bricks

LEGO bricks really are ideal for place value activities. Toss the bricks onto a homemade target with rings to represents ones, tens, and so on. Count the studs of each brick that lands on a place value ring, then add them up to get your final number. See more LEGO math ideas here.

14. Build understanding with LEGO bricks

You know your students love to build with LEGO, so use them to reinforce place value concepts too. Hands-on place value activities are always the most fun!

15. Act out multiplying and dividing

Active math games are one of the best ways we know to get kids involved in their learning. Find out how to act out multiplying or dividing by powers of 10 at Teacher Thrive .

16. Play a game of Place Value War

Play this game with Uno cards or a classic deck with face cards removed. Each player has a number of piles (depending on which place values you’re working on) and lays down the top card from each. The players say the resulting numbers out loud (e.g. “five hundred thirty”), and the player with the highest number wins. For a fun variation, allow players to use the cards they flip to create the highest possible number.

17. Build a number

Kids select some number cards, then try to meet a series of challenges like making the largest number they can. Add in a decimal card to up the complexity of the game.

18. Keep track of school days in a pocket chart

Each day, count how many days students have been in school this year by adding counters like 10-frames to a pocket chart. The number climbs as the year goes on, building from ones to tens to hundreds.

19. Send them on a scavenger hunt

Grab a stack of old magazines and newspapers and let kids loose to find examples of the place value challenges set in this scavenger hunt. Go to Primary Theme Park to get the free printable.

20. Shake things up with Yahtzee

Roll out the dice and try to beat your opponent as you fulfill the conditions of this special game of Yahtzee. Print the free game boards and get the rules at the link below. Find more creative ways to use dice in your classroom here.

21. Enjoy a game of Whack It!

What kid doesn’t love to whack things with a fly swatter? Put that energy to good use by having them slap the swatter down on the correct values as you call them out.

22. Take a journey on the Place Value Path

This free printable game combines a traditional board game with bingo. Roll the dice to see which outer square you land on. Count up the number represented by the base-10 symbols, and mark it on your bingo board. When you get five in a row, you win!

23. Toss beanbags into place value bins

Combine hand-eye coordination practice with math skills in this place value game. Label bins for tens, hundreds, etc., and choose a number. Kids toss numbered bean bags into the correct bins to win!

24. Snack and learn with rainbow math

Use Froot Loops cereal pieces and pipe cleaners to learn tens and ones with this free printable activity. Don’t want to use cereal? Try beads instead.

25. Use nuts and bolts to learn place value

Looking for inexpensive ways to represent base 10? Try nuts and bolts! You can pick them up in bulk at the hardware store, and it’s easy to replace them if they get lost.

26. Make giant DIY ones and tens blocks

Cut squares of bright-colored card stock for ones, and tape together a series of them to create the tens. Then add smiley faces to the top just for fun, and have kids hold up the giant blocks to represent various numbers.

27. Cut a pool noodle into tens and ones

The nice thing about these DIY manipulatives is that they’re easy for little hands to handle. Cut pool noodles to represent tens and ones to give kids practice building numbers.

28. Solve a place value puzzle

Place value activities are still important for older kids. This advanced activity asks them to solve math word problems and write the solutions into the correct place on the grid. Get the free printable at Education.com .

29. Complete a place value maze

This advanced place value activity gives students practice adding hundreds, thousands, and higher. They find the next correct answer in the maze as they go along. Visit Math Geek Mama for these free printable mazes.

30. Walk along giant number lines

We love place value activities that also get kids up and moving! For this one, use masking tape to create number lines for ones, tens, hundreds, etc., on the floor. Choose a number and use paper plates to mark the correct places on the number lines, or have kids stand on the correct mark instead.

Looking for even more math fun? Try these fun and free fraction games!

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Free download printable place value game.

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35 Place Value Games To Play In Your Classroom

June 1, 2021 //  by  Suzanne Bucknam

Place value can be one of the more challenging, but basic concepts for kids to understand, which is why it's important to introduce it in order from concrete to abstract - and in a variety of fun ways.

Place value games are games that introduce and/or reinforce a child's understanding that a digit's place in a number affects its value. For example, the digit "2" in the number 325 represents 20, not 2.

Playing educational games is the most effective way to help students understand how to arrive at the correct answer. Interactive games are great for reinforcing a child's knowledge of the place-value concept and hands-on place value activities are great for independent learning.

Here are some fun and creative place value games that will help students enhance their math skills to understand this concept in a meaningful way and make learning place value a less confusing concept.

1. Place Value Pirates

Place Value Pirates is a fun activity that is great for 1st grade math on into the 2nd grade. This free printable activity can be played independently or as different variations of interactive games.

Learn more: Math Geek Mama

2. Place Value Stomping Game

This is a fun and easy-to-set-up place value game for kids that involves their whole bodies. This DIY game is adaptable to different learning levels, which is great.

Active math games are great for getting students up and moving.

Learn more: Creekside Learning

3. Learning Place Value with Beads

This is a fun place value game that can be played alone or in pairs. Students can take turns rolling a ten-sided die and then adding beads to gain a deeper understanding of 10 ones being the same as a single unit of 10.

Learn more: Mrs. T’s First Grade Class

4. Three Little Pigs Place Value Game

Making house from base-10 blocks is a creative math game that plays off the classic children's tale, The Three Little Pigs. In addition to learning place value, students also learn about even and odd numbers.

Learn more: The Lemonade Stand Teacher

5. Roll the Dice

Rolling dice onto a page of place value graphics is a fun and easy way for kids to learn place values. This is a perfect game for reinforcing math concepts after a child has worked with hands-on materials, like tangible base-10 blocks.

Learn more: Lory’s 2 nd Grade Skills

6. Place Value Marshmallow Towers

What could be a more fun place value game for kids than one involving marshmallows and Fruit Loops?

Learn more: Gingersnap Treats for Teachers

7. Place Value Pizzaria

Using a pie graph (pizza pie, in this case) you can teach children that numbers can have multiple representations. This is a fun game that can be adapted to all levels of learning.

Learn more: 2 nd Grade Ponderings

8. Place Value Sliders

Place value sliders are a fun way to supplement place value textbook learning for kids. This place value game can be laminated and enjoyed again and again.

Learn more: The Teaching Nest

9. Place Value Board Game

This is a fun and interactive place value game for kids. Using task cards and a game board, a child's understanding of place values is reinforced.

Learn more: The Measured Mom

10. The Dot Game

The Dot Game is one of the fun kindergarten math games that can be introduced after a child has worked extensively with mathematic manipulatives. This material uses a place-value chart for kids to practice dynamic and static math equations.

Learn more: Wonderful Montessori

11. Composition of Quantities

Montessori math materials are perfect for preschool math activities. Composing quantities using golden beads, children learn how individual digits come together to back base-10 blocks.

Those base-10 blocks can then be manipulated to form a hundreds digit.

Learn more: Carrots are Orange

12. Circular Tray Place Value Game

Using math manipulatives, number cards, and an inexpensive circular tray, you can create a variety of place value games for kids.

Learn more: Where the Magic Happens Teaching

13. Fishing for Place Values

Fishing for Place Values is a place value game that has kids fish for base ten blocks and tally up the product of their catch.

Learn more: Teach Starter

14. Cup Stacking

This is such a simple, but creative place value game. In this cup-stacking place value game, students build pyramids to earn points while learning about place values.

Learn more: Runde’s Room

15. Building Numbers

Hands-on lessons to introduce the place-value concept are important. In this building numbers game, students get a chance to construct quantities from number cards.

Learn more: The Kindergarten Smorgasboard

16. Place Value Pasta

Learning about place value by using colored pasta is one of the most fun preschool math activities. Manipulating fun-colored pasta noodles is a great way to help kids form an understanding of this all-important concept.

Learn more: Playground Park Bench

17. Place Value Scavenger Hunt

With a place value scavenger hunt, kids have to search around the room for numbers. They can use magazines, books, newspapers, or anything else they can find.

18. Place Value Toss Game

This is a fun 2 player place value game that can be set up inexpensively, using mostly items you likely already have on hand. There are also some creative variations of this game to try.

Learn more: Learning Ideas Grades K-8

19. Place Value Math Circle

A great way to teach kids place value is to get them moving around and using their bodies. A Place Value Math Circle is a great way to do this.

20. Place Value Snake

Making a snake from cardboard to teach children about place values is easy and fun. All it takes is a strip of paper and a marker. For younger children, you can make it more interesting by adding features of a real snake.

Learn more: E is for Explore

21. I Have..Who Has?

The I Have...Who Has? game is very simple and fun. It gets kids interacting with each other while reinforcing their understanding of place values.

Learn more: Teacher Mama

22. Finding Place Value in Nature

Finding place value in nature is great for the playground environment at school or for homeschooling parents, as it's highly adaptable to the child's immediate surroundings.

It also teaches students that math concepts can be found anywhere and everywhere.

Learn more: Gryphon House

23. Place Value Flip Book

When students are first introduced to digit values, they are typically confined to working with one or two-digit numbers. When written numbers are combined with hands-on materials, though, there's no need to limit the size of the numbers.

A Place Value Flip Book lets young students have the chance to work with very large numbers, which is always exciting.

Learn more: Education.com

24. Base Ten Counters

Teaching children that different items can be used as math manipulatives helps develop their mathematical minds so they can see math everywhere they look.

Learn more: Entirely at Home

25. Last Number Standing

This is a great place value game that gets kids up from their desks and having fun. The teacher calls out place value amounts until there is only one student left standing - incredibly fun.

Learn more: Primary Theme Park

26. Place Value Snacks

Snack time is a great opportunity to work in place value games. Using mini marshmallows as units, pretzel sticks as tens, and soda crackers as 100s you can create a fun place value game.

Learn more: Amy Lemons

27. Place Value Ice Cream Match

This is a great place value game for when the weather is warm. It can be introduced in a summer-themed learning unit or as a stand-alone activity.

Learn more: 123 Homeschool 4 Me

28. Montessori Stamp Cards

Montessori math is an effective method that focuses heavily on incorporating the decimal system and place value work throughout the activities. These stamp cards are a fun take on traditional Montessori materials.

Learn more: Dingoden

29. Place Value Robot

This is a fun way for kids to play with the concept of place value. Students get to construct a robot while learning about units, tens, and hundreds.

Learn more: No Time for Flashcards

30. Tens and Ones Bingo

This is a fun place value game that is great for the classroom, as it can be played in large groups. It comes with a variety of calling cards that can be used for different age groups.

Learn more: Down Under Teacher

31. Don't Spill the Beans

Don't Spill the Beans is a fantastic way to introduce the concept of place value. It uses beans as the manipulative, which is great for developing fine motor skills , as well.

Learn more: Kindergarten Crayons

32. Apple Picking Place Value

Learning place value through real-life experiences is unique and exciting for kids. This apple picking game/place-value chart is wonderful for the Fall season when students are returning to school, to reinforce their understanding of place value.

Learn more: Waldorf Moraine

33. Mystery Puzzles

This series of fun puzzle games is a fun, hands-on take on some of the online base ten learning games.

Learn more: The Moffatt Girls

34. Owl Spinner

These owl spinners have students spin both the dials and record the numbers in a grid. This game is great for students who have worked with manipulatives and are ready to move into more abstraction.

35. Place Value Super Powers

Living in the era of technology has its benefits. When students have worked with base-ten manipulatives, Primary Theme Park has a fun place value game that will help them cement their understanding of place values.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you teach place value in a fun way.

There are so many fun ways to teach place value. Introducing place value using colorful manipulatives gets kids interested in learning more about it.

Why do students struggle with place value?

Students, especially young students, struggle with place value because it's a bit of an abstract concept. When it's introduced in concrete ways, though, children struggle less with it.

How do you introduce place value?

Place value should be introduced early on in a child's academic career and in a hands-on, fun way. Place value games are a great way to accomplish this.

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25 Activities to Teach Place Value

• Christopher Olson
• February 14, 2022
• No Comments

Place Value Activity 1.  Write the Room

2. Morning Meeting Routine

3. Lego Block Place Value

Place value activity 4.  file folder games, 5. paint swatch place value, 6. math centers.

Place Value Activity 7. Base Ten Monsters!  (Or Robots)

8. place value names, 9. identify different place value units.

Place Value Activity 10. Place Value War

11. place value read alouds.

• Zero the Hero by Joan Holub (aff)
• Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens by Cindy Neuschwander (aff)
• Math Fables: Lessons That Count by Greg Tang (aff)
• Earth Day–Hooray! by Stuart J. Murphy (aff)
• Place Value by David A. Adler (aff)
• A Place for Zero by Angeline Sparagna LoPresti (aff)
• The King’s Commissioners by Aileen Friedman (aff)
• A Million Dots by Andrew Clements (aff)
• How Much is a Million by David Schwartz (aff)
• Penguin Place Value by Kathleen Stone (aff)

12. Place Value Math Printables

Place Value Activity 13. Rolling for Place Value

14.  place value yahtzee, 15. color by number.

Place Value Activity 16. Pool Noodles

17. center work mats.

18. Place Value Hopscotch

Place value activity 19. snowball place value toss, 20. i have, who has.

21. Place Value Nuts and Bolts

Place value activity 22. ping pong challenge, activity 23. place value and science.

24. YouTube Videos

Place value activity 25. rainbow place value.

Written By: Christopher Olson

Welcome! I’m Emily, Founder of Education to the Core. We are all about helping K-2 teachers by providing unlimited access to affordable printables for every subject area.   

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Teach place value, numbers, decimals, and greater than/less than with these hands on elementary math activities! Use printables, manipulatives, and more!

Place Value War – Childhood 101

Start a war – a place value war!

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6 strategies to help pupils develop an early understanding of place value

Number and place value are foundational concepts for all mathematics learning. This means we need to address how to teach place value as early as possible so that pupils can secure their knowledge of the concept.

How do you develop an early understanding of place value in the primary school classroom? Let’s start by defining place value . It is a system for writing numerals where the position of each digit determines its value. Each value is a multiple of a common base of 10 in our decimal system.

Here are some teaching strategies I’ve found useful when helping learners develop an early understanding of place value.

Progress through concepts systematically

Developing an understanding of place value requires systematic progression. Each new concept should build on previous learning experiences so that pupils can gain deeper, relational understanding as they go.

This approach ensures knowledge is developed, refined and applied correctly as numbers become meaningful tools for solving problems rather than just a series of symbols on a page. Most importantly, this starts our learners on the path to becoming confident problem solvers and pattern spotters.

Use the CPA approach to establish meaning

The CPA ( Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract ) approach helps pupils connect a physical representation of a number (concrete manipulatives) to that same quantity as shown in drawings or graphics (pictorial), and finally to the actual written name and symbol for that number (abstract).

I view concrete resources as meaning makers. They add meaning to abstract representations of numbers so that when learners progress to the abstract phase, they know what those numbers stand for, what they mean, and how they relate to each other.

If a pupil can identify the meaning of each component in a problem, they are far more confident in how they work to solve it.

Teach the ‘ten-ness of ten’

‘Ten’ is the foundational building block of our Base 10 numeration system. At an early level, spend as much time as possible studying the numbers from 0 to 10, as understanding the ‘ten-ness of ten’ is crucial for maths attainment, and it cannot be rushed.

Once this understanding is locked-in, follow this with an introduction to number bonds . Start with the additive relationships between numbers less than 10, then progress to adding and subtracting up to 10. This ensures that learners see 10 as an important ‘base’ number in all of their future maths applications.

Progress to 20, then to 40

I make sure to take my time teaching ten and teen numbers so that a solid understanding of place value with numbers up to 20 is properly established.

I then extend the place value concept by working with numbers up to 40 — followed by addition and subtraction to 40.

Because pupils have learned to make 10 and use number bonds, they are ready to begin working with multi-digit numbers and regrouping. Focusing on numbers to 40 while developing the concept of place value also allows learners to associate numbers with easily-managed, physical quantities (meaning makers).

Use base 10 blocks for 100 and 1000

The work we’ve done building a gradual understanding of place value will have prepared pupils to progress to three-digit numbers. So we can now move on to studying up to 100.

We start here by developing an understanding of numbers in multiple place value representations. For example, one thousand five hundred is 15 hundreds or 150 tens.

Once they get the hang of that, learners then sharpen their counting, reading, and writing skills for numbers up to 1,000. Moving into addition and subtraction with numbers up to 1,000 — with and without regrouping — is the next step.

Here is where our work establishing an early understanding of place value is key, because pupils will intrinsically know why these algorithms work for three and four-digit numbers. Base 10 blocks are a great tool to help solidify those earlier place value ideas when working with numbers up to the thousands.

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Approach larger numbers the same way

The CPA approach is once again our answer to learning place value in larger numbers. Apply those skills and always be on the lookout for chances to extend number and place value concepts.

For example, you can identify and complete number patterns or find missing digits on a number line.

From there you can explore strategies for mental mathematics as well as addition and subtraction for numbers up to 10,000. Take learners even deeper by having them explore place value with an emphasis on multiplication, division, and decimals.

Mastering maths concepts like place value in the early years is not just key to success in the classroom. It prepares learners for a lifetime of deep mathematical understanding by giving them invaluable real-world tools like resilience and problem-solving ability.

And a confident problem solver in maths is a confident problem solver in life.

Gemma Meharg

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{{item.title}}, my essentials, ask for help, contact edconnect, directory a to z, how to guides, literacy and numeracy, building place value.

This resource has been developed in partnership with the NSW Mathematics Strategy Professional Learning team, Curriculum Early Years and Primary Learners, and Literacy and Numeracy.

Using the resource

This resource is the last section of a six part resource supporting number knowledge. Use this resource in conjunction with the other resources in this series in order to support a connected network of critical mathematical concepts, skills and understanding.

Supporting tasks

Full instructions on how to use each of these tasks, including materials, related tasks and learning intentions are included in the resource, available for download on this page.

Renaming numbers

One of the most important skills we can support students to develop to support their place value understanding is the capacity to confidently rename numbers in a range of ways.

Task 1: Capture 10

Students watch the video ‘Capture 10’ to learn how to play

Task 2: Paddle pop sticks 1

Students watch icecream sticks 1 – Quantifying Collections and learn how to play.

Place value

To promote place value understanding, students should be encouraged to describe teen numbers such as 14 as 1 ten and 4 ones, flexibly naming numbers in different ways.

Task 3: Minute to win it

Students watch Minute to win it to learn how to play.

Variation 1: Different dice can be used to increase the size of the collection for example, 10, 12 or 20 sided dice

Variation 2: Use paddle pop sticks to explore using different structures such as tally marks or bundles or 10

Task 4: Counting with understanding – up to 100

Students watch Counting with understanding up to 100 to learn how to play.

Task 5: 101 and you’re out

Students watch ‘101 and you’re out’ to learn how to play.

Variation 1: Increase the challenge by using numbers from 0-9. You can also use playing cards, make cards or make a spinner.

Variation 2: Roll the dice 4 times and only use four lines on the game board.

Whether we move up or down when rounding is determined by which landmark is closest in value. This is why having strong, transferable knowledge in relationships to other whole numbers is a critical focus of early years learning.

When a number is a multiple of 5, we round up to the nearest decade or hundred as 5 marks the midpoint between two decades.

Task 6: Hit it!

Students watch ‘Hit it!’ to learn how to play.

Task 7: Our place value system

Students watch ‘Our place value system ’ to learn how to play.

Download part 6 of the number knowledge series

• Place value (PDF 572 KB)
• Place value (DOCX 633 KB)

Related supporting number knowledge resources

Part 1: Connecting number names, numerals and quantities

Part 2: Building important relationships - part-part-whole

Part 3: Building important relationships - more than, less than, equivalent in value to

Part 4: Benchmarks of 5 and 10

Part 5: Comparing, ordering, sequencing and estimating

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K-5 Math Centers

K-5 math ideas, 3rd grade math, need help organizing your k-5 math block, 3 super tips for teaching place value.

Here’s the understatement of the year: teaching place value is kind of a big deal! From kindergarten through 5th grade, “Numbers and Operations in Base Ten” shows up in the common core math standards like clockwork.

The task of “understanding place value” grows in complexity every year and really ramps up starting in 3rd grade. Students are expected to learn how to “fluently add and subtract within 1000” using number-sense strategies based on place value. This 3-digit math strategy can feel uncomfortably like the big leagues for kids struggling with place value. So I’m going to share:

Before I share 3 tips, let’s build some background. Students as early as kindergarten and 1st grade come to school knowing things about two digit numbers like how to verbally count from 10 to 100 and counting objects within 15 or 20.

However, their understanding of numbers is pretty different from ours in that it’s based on a counting by ones approach. So they typically count one thing at a time and don’t readily understand the connection between a number and the groups of tens and ones.

For example, if we ask a student how many tens are in 67. They may say 6 in the tens place because they simply name the position with little understanding of it. But they may not understand that 6 represents 6 groups of ten things and 7 represents 7 single things. Understanding that a group of ten can represent a single entity is a huge shift!

Students tend to struggle because understanding place value is anything but simple. It’s all a big puzzle where three big pieces or connections should be made.

3 Key Connections to Building Place Value

The first key is understanding base-ten concepts in order to represent numbers visually. While many teachers may provide students opportunities to represent numbers using standard groupings, it’s equally as important for students to represent numbers using equivalent groupings. I consider this to be the keystone of place value.

Students should also be able to articulate numbers in their oral forms, whether they’re standard (“seventy-two”) or base-ten (“7 tens and 2 ones”).

Finally, students have to understand how to read and write numerals. Making these three connections hinges on utilizing different counting strategies in practice: counting by ones, counting by groups and singles, and counting by tens and ones.

See how all of this works together? If students miss one piece, then it would be challenging for them to have a full understanding of place-value. That’s why giving kids the right tools to understand the place value system is so important.

Here are a few tips that develop place value:

Tip #1: Use place value mats to make reading and writing numbers easier

Yes, manipulatives are great for moving students from concrete understanding to abstract. Place value mats work nicely with manipulatives by helping to drive abstract concepts home.

Help struggling learners by making learning hands-on and visual. That means using manipulatives like base-ten blocks. Base-ten blocks are the best tool on the block – pun intended. A great thing about base-ten blocks are the versatility to build whole numbers or decimals.

With the unit block representing one, allow students time to explore the relationship between the units (small block) and rods as well as the rods and a flat on a place value mat. Exploring these relationships support the 10- to- 1 relationship of place value including: 10 units equal 1 ten, 10 tens equal 1 hundred and so on.

Warning : Base ten blocks are all about relationships. Each block can represent different amounts depending on how they’re used. Don’t make your kids think that each block can ONLY represent one thing. For example, when using base ten blocks to represent decimals, the flat may represent 1 and the smallest block may represent 1 hundredth. When talking to kids, I find it easy to use the phrase: In this situation __________ represents __________.

Now let’s talk place value charts. Create simple place value charts that are reusable by including a place for hundreds, tens, and ones. This layout mimics the way the number is written from left to right. In the ones section, ensure that there are two ten-frames to promote the concept of a group of ten and eliminate the need for one-by-one counting. Ten frames also help students visualize how many more units are needed to make a complete set of ten.

Also give students time to represent a number using standard groupings and equivalent groupings. For example, the numeral 49 can be represented in standard form as 4 tens and 9 ones.

As well use equivalent groupings of 49 to show 3 tens and 19 ones. Without these types of experiences kids really struggle understanding that both values are equivalent.

Tip #2: Provide Opportunities to Count by Groups of  10’s and 100’s

You may have kids in 2nd and 3rd grade that continue to count things by ones instead of groupings things by 10. Grouping by 10’s is important because it’s mentally easier to count plus our number system is based on 10’s! Since we want to foster students ability to count by 10’s (not impose it on them) check out these 2 helpful activities.

The Crayon Counting Challenge

Gather your students in a circle. Find a collection of crayons (or any countable items ranging from 25 to 100) and spill them out in the middle of the circle. Ask students, “How could we can count these crayons in a way that’s easier than counting by ones?” Test out any of the counting suggestions that students give (ie. if they say count by 3’s then group and count the crayons by threes until you can’t make any more groups of 3).

After testing different strategies have a discussion on what worked well and what didn’t work so well. If no one suggests the idea of counting by 10’s, suggest it to the group and discuss how it worked in comparison to the other counting suggestions. Students typically discover that counting by 5’s or 10’s is the easiest method to group and count items.

The Classroom Estimation Activity

Create an estimation jar in your class. Fill a durable, clear plastic jar with 200 to 1000 items. Items like tiny erasers, beans or paper clips work well and are pretty inexpensive.

First give all students an opportunity to write down their estimates of the number of items in the jar. For example below, every student would record the number of erasers they believe are in the jar. After students arrive at their estimates have a class discussion about strategies they used to arrive at their recorded amount.

Next pour out all the items (ie. erasers) into several cups.

Group students in pairs and provide them with a cup to count and group the items 10 at a time.

After students have grouped all items into 10’s, place all of the groups in front of the class and ask the following questions:

• How can we use the cups of 10 to tell how many we have altogether?
• Can we make new groups using the groups of ten? What new groups can we form?
• How many are in each new group?

After the class discussion provide larger containers for the new groups. For example, students may form new groups of 50 or 100 by combining 5 cups of 10 erasers into one container of 50. Make sure that you have large enough containers for the new groups (ie. 50 erasers in each new group) and label each new group.

Once all of the new groups are formed, count the hundreds, tens and ones separately. Record the total number of items (erasers) on a sheet of paper and discuss how their estimates were similar to or different from the actual number counted.

Tip #3: Use a daily place value warm-up to build confidence

Another great strategy for reinforcing place value is a daily warm-up, especially if it incorporates math talk. Since place value and base 10 understanding are the basis of our number system, it’s important that students get plenty of practice.

You’ve probably heard that people need to do something for 30 days to make it a habit. The same holds true for kids. To help your students master place value, I’ve created a 30 day warm- up routine . This routine engages your class in meaningful math discussions while building place value understanding within 1000.

Each day, project one math talk lesson onto your interactive whiteboard. Students will complete 4 daily questions. With 3 levels and 10 math talk activities included in each level, you’ll have 30 days of place value learning.

Level A: Beginner

Includes 10 math talks with:

• 4 basic questions
• 10 more and 10 less
• Understanding base-ten models
• Comparing the value of a given digit to another

Level B: Intermediate

• 4 intermediate questions
• Place value reasoning
• Adding or subtracting multiples of ten
• Comparing values
• Plus 1 additional BONUS question

Level C: Advanced

• 4 challenging questions
• Understanding the value of a given digit
• Applying place value understanding
• Plotting numbers on number line

Take your student understanding of place value to the next level using this routine. Click on the image below to purchase.

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Place Value Routine

This math routine builds place value understanding in 30 days! Students answer 4 daily questions to build number sense within 1,000.

Early grade students come to school counting by ones but the shift to more efficient strategies is necessary (especially when understanding larger numbers). Spending time in the early years grouping 10’s and 100’s, representing numbers in standard and equivalent groupings as well as reading and writing numbers will definitely help cement place value understanding.

I hope these tips help you foster a strong place value foundation in your students.

Full Citation of Place Value Mat & Place Value Relational Chart – Van De Walle, J., Karp, K.S., & Bay Williams J.M. (2010). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally  (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon

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These activities are part of our Primary collections , which are problems grouped by topic.

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