Notice five
Each full row contains five counters.
Make Ten Playground
Complete a ten frame with blue counters and explore complements to ten.
Grades K–2 · Math
Your goal
Keep 3 coral counters and add blue counters to fill exactly ten spaces.
Reduced motion is on. The controls still update the scene.
3 coral + 0 blue = 3. There are 7 empty spaces. 7 blue counters would complete ten.
Coral counters stay in the frame. Blue counters occupy only empty spaces, so the frame always holds at most ten.
Related resources
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Study as flashcards
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Learn with Make Ten Playground
Make Ten Playground gives beginning mathematicians a concrete way to see complements to ten. A frame contains two rows of five spaces, with a fixed group of coral counters already placed. Children add or return blue counters and watch the equation change alongside the picture. Empty spaces make the missing quantity visible before learners use an abstract addition fact. Nine goals vary the starting group while keeping the same whole of ten, supporting counting, recognizing five, and explaining why two groups combine to make ten.
What to look for
Count empty spaces
Empty spaces show how many blue counters are still needed.
Explain the total
Name both colored groups and check that they add to ten.
For teachers and curious learners
Find the missing addend that completes ten. Ask students to predict what will happen, change one setting, and explain what they observe. Learn gives a starting point. Practice and Challenge offer new goals with the same scene.
Ten fixed spaces hold coral counters and a bounded number of blue counters. Coral counters cannot move, and counters never overlap or exceed the frame capacity.