Friends of Ten | FREE Ways to Make Ten Activities

^{In this blog post: Your students will love learning ways to decompose 10 with the Friends of Ten anchor chart, making ten math games, and ways to make ten craft.}

If you teach Kindergarten or First Grade, you know that decomposing numbers and making ten is a BIG math standard! These friends of ten activities really help students learn ways to make ten in a fun, hands on way.

Why do we teach ways to make ten?

Whether you call it friends if ten, making ten, or combinations to ten, learning ways to make ten will build our students’ number sense and help with addition fluency.

Being able to add fluently is so important for our students, but we don’t want to rely on rote memorization. If students only memorize that 5+5=10, can they apply that to other addition problems they come across?

In Kindergarten, it is so important that our students have experience breaking apart and making ten. We want them to physically see those number partnerships and how they can be reversed. Why?

In first grade, our students will be asked to add within 20 and add fluently to 10. Fluently means that they don’t even have to think about it! If students have a good understanding of how numbers work together to make ten, then memorizing those math facts will be that much easier.

Friends of Ten Anchor Chart

When we start learning ways to make ten in kindergarten, I begin with just the clouds on this rainbow making ten anchor chart. I tell students that we are learning about numbers that are friends. These friends just LOVE making ten! If we ever see these numbers together, we know that we have a ten.

I use a big magnetic ten frame, which comes with two colors of counters. I start with a blank ten frame and then have students help me count how many more we need to make ten. I write those two numbers on the rainbow with a red marker and then draw the rainbow arc.

We repeat this with 1-5, with me putting the some counters up and then having students count how many more we need to make 10, until we have all the number combinations on our rainbow.

At the bottom of the rainbow, we write the friends of ten facts and I show students how, even if the numbers are reversed, they still equal ten.

Making Ten Activities for Kindergarten

Now it’s time for students to get some hands on experience making ten! We practice combinations to ten using double sided counters and ten frames. We start by doing this whole group.

Then, students use a 10-sided die to practice independently or with a partner. They roll the die and out that many counters on their ten frame. Then, they use the other color to finish making ten.

This math activity is so simple but so fun!

Ways to Make Ten Worksheets

Students also practice making ten with these friends of ten math worksheets. There is a version with numbers and a blank version.

For this making ten worksheet, students will draw raindrops to count on until they make ten. Then, they will fill in the number sentence to match.

There is a version without numbers included too. Students can use the 10-sided die with this worksheet. They can roll a number and write it on one side of the rainbow, and then write its ten friend on the other side.

Friends of Ten Craft for Making Ten

This making ten craft is so cute and a great way to record your ways to make ten learning!

Students will choose a ways to make ten combination. They will write those numbers on either side of the rainbow. Then, they will glue on raindrops to match. Finally, they will model their tens partner on the ten frame.

Are you learning about decomposing and making ten with your kindergarten class this year? You can grab these FREE ways to make ten activities below!

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Friends of Ten Making 10 Activities

These friends of ten activities make decomposing combinations to make ten fun!

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Do you love free stuff?

Friends of Ten Making 10 Activities

These friends of ten activities make decomposing combinations to make ten fun!