2·3 Little LearnersMonth 2 · Lesson 3
★★★★★ 0/5

Today's big idea

Making 10

Ten is the magic number. Learn all the ways to make it and you hold the keys to adding, taking away, and being the quickest counter in the class.

  • Age 6
  • 15–20 minutes
  • 5 stars to collect
  • No pencils needed
Start the lesson →

Watch the frame

5 + 5 = 10

Five and five make ten.

  1. LESSON 1Counting to 20
  2. LESSON 2More & less
  3. LESSON 3Making ten — you are here
  4. LESSON 4Ten and a bit more
  5. LESSON 5Story sums

Warm-up

Tap the frame

Tap a circle to drop a counter. Tap it again to take it back. Fill the frame with exactly ten — not nine, not eleven!

0 + 10 = 10

Go on — tap the empty circles.

0counters down
Psst — the frame has 2 rows of 5. If both rows are full, you know you have ten without counting one by one!

The hiding game

What's under the leaf?

Ten counters appear… then a leaf covers some of them. How many are hiding? Get three right to earn the star.

0right so far
Say it out loud: “10 minus 4 is 6.” That is subtraction — taking away.

Watch carefully…

Tap your answer:

Ten pairs

Pick two, make ten

Tap two numbers that add up to ten. Clear all twelve and the star is yours. 0 and 10 count too!

Find a pair…

0pairs found
Tip: look for the number that joins — 8 wants 2, 9 wants 1, 6 wants 4.

Story sums

Ten apples on the tree

Listen to the story, press Act it out, then answer the question.

Loading story…

Why this matters: turning a number sentence into a story is how children move from counting to real thinking.
10 − 3 = 7the story in numbers

Calm corner

Trace the ten

Pick a crayon and draw over the dotted 10. Slow and steady — a big number with your whole arm!

Your turn — draw right over the dots.

Use your pointer, a mouse, or a finger on a tablet. Thick lines are easier for little hands.

Say it while you write

“Ten is a 1 and a 0 — it needs two digits!”

For grown-ups— what to notice today

The idea behind the lesson

Children who can see ten as flexible parts — 7 and 3, 6 and 4, 8 and 2 — add and subtract from memory instead of counting from one. The ten-frame is the bridge between fingers and the head.

What your child practised

  • Subitising — knowing “ten” without counting
  • All number bonds to 10, including 0 + 10
  • Mental subtraction with the hiding game
  • Story problems as number sentences (10 − 3 = 7)
  • Forming the numeral 10 with two digits

Questions to ask at dinner

“I have 7 clementines. How many more make 10?”wait — let them pause and answer
“Show me 10 with only your fingers. Now hide 3 — how many left?”the hands are the ten-frame
“Which two of these make ten: 3, 8, 2, 6?”look for the pairing talk
“Is 10 + 0 still ten? What about 10 − 0?”zero is a number too

If it felt hard

Go back to Activity 1 with real objects — ten buttons on a shaded 2×5 grid on paper. Two days of that, then retry the hiding game.