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Facts to Ten Games

📝 This post, Facts to Ten, was originally published in 2014 and has been updated with new information and resources.

Learning the facts to ten is such an important part of math in first grade. When students know the combinations that make 10 without having to count each one, so many other math skills begin to come more easily.

Years ago, I attended a math teaching conference where the presenter suggested spending the first few weeks of school really focusing on helping students master their facts to 10. That idea stuck with me, and when I got back to my classroom, I created a Making Ten Math Center.

It wasn’t anything fancy! I used a set of plastic drawers and put a different facts to ten game or activity in each one. Students could choose from the drawers during choice time, use the activities when they finished their work early, and sometimes I’d pull them out for morning work. It gave my students lots of opportunities to practice the same important skill in different ways without simply doing the same thing over and over.

Over the years, I added more games and activities to those drawers as I found or created new ways to practice. I’ve gathered my favorites here, along with a FREE printable and more ideas for helping students learn and practice the different ways to make 10.

Why Are Facts to Ten Important?

Knowing the different ways to make 10 gives students a foundation they will use again and again in math. When students know that 1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, and 5 + 5 all make 10, they begin to see numbers as parts that can be put together and taken apart.

And once those combinations become familiar, students can use them when working with larger addition and subtraction problems. Instead of always counting one by one, they can begin using what they know about 10 to solve problems more efficiently.

That’s why I wanted my students to have lots of opportunities to practice facts to ten—not just on a worksheet, but through games and activities they could use again and again.

Games and Activities for Facts to Ten

Roll and Cover

This is about as simple as it gets! Students need two regular dice, the Roll and Cover game board, and bingo chips or pennies.

To play, the first player rolls both dice and adds the two numbers together. The player then finds the sum on the game board and covers it with a bingo chip or penny. If that number is already covered, another chip can simply be added on top.

Play continues until all of the numbers on the board have been covered.

To put a little more focus on making ten, I had students keep a tally of how many times they rolled two numbers that added up to 10. It was an easy way to get in some extra practice recognizing those important combinations while they played.

Roll a Ten

Roll a Ten puts the focus directly on finding combinations that make 10. Students need the game board, two dice, and a pencil, crayon, or marker.

To play, the first player rolls both dice and adds the numbers together. If the two numbers make 10, the player finds that addition fact on the game board and colors in one box beside it. If the numbers do not make 10, play moves to the next player.

For example, if a student rolls a 3 and a 7, they find 3 + 7 on the board and color one of the boxes next to it.

This game also gave us a natural opportunity to talk about turn-around facts. If a student rolled 7 + 3 instead of 3 + 7, we could talk about how both equations have the same sum and represent the same combination of 10.

There was also some fun probability talk that came out of this game. As students played, they began noticing which combinations appeared more often and which were harder to roll.

Stack a Ten

Stack a Ten gives students a visual way to see the different combinations that make 10. Students need the game board and crayons or markers. Dice can also be added if you want to turn it into a game.

For a simple version, students choose a fact that makes 10, such as 4 + 6. They color 4 squares in one color and the remaining 6 squares in another color, then write the addition fact below the stack. They continue choosing different combinations until the board is complete.

To make it into a game, students roll two dice and add the numbers. If the sum is 10, they color a stack to match the numbers they rolled and record the addition fact underneath. For example, if they roll a 2 and an 8, they might color 2 squares yellow and 8 squares pink, then write 2 + 8 = 10.

If the numbers don’t make 10, they roll again and keep trying!

I like this one because the finished stacks make the parts of 10 really easy to see. Students aren’t just memorizing 4 + 6 = 10—they can actually see the 4 and the 6 coming together to make the whole group of 10.

Make a Ten Memory

This one is always a hit because most students already know how to play Memory—the math practice is built right into a familiar game.

Print and cut apart the cards, then place them face down. Players take turns turning over two cards at a time, looking for two numbers that make 10. If the numbers add up to 10, the player keeps the pair. If they don’t, the cards are turned back over and the next player takes a turn.

For example, a student might turn over 3 and 7 or 6 and 4 and keep the pair because together they make 10.

As students play, they get repeated practice recognizing the combinations that make 10—and because they also have to remember where the numbers are, they start thinking ahead: I know I saw an 8 somewhere…now I need to find the 2!

Print, cut, and you’re ready to play!

💚 Grab the FREE Make a Ten Memory Game

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Practice Making Ten with My Dog Ten

Another way I practiced facts to 10 with my students was with My Dog Ten. After discovering the My Dog Ten song, I created several activities around Ten—a dog who only eats things that add up to 10.

Students worked with addition facts, sorted number combinations, and decided which “bones” Ten could eat based on whether the numbers made 10. My students loved Ten so much that I even brought in a stuffed dog, named him Ten, and kept him in our classroom for quick facts-to-10 practice!

There are several different activities in the full post, including anchor charts, sorting activities, and student practice pages.

💚 See My Dog Ten and all the activities for practicing facts to 10.

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More Games and Activities for Making Ten

If your students need more practice, I’ve put all of my making ten games and activities together into one resource—and I’ve added quite a bit to it over the years!

Along with the games shared in this post, the resource includes lots of other ways to practice the combinations that make 10 using dice, number bonds, playing cards, dominoes, partner games, BUMP games, coloring activities, practice pages, and more. There are plenty of options to switch things up while still giving students the repetition they need to really learn their facts to 10.

I especially like having a variety of these activities available because that’s exactly how my original Making Ten Math Center worked. Students weren’t doing the same activity every day. They could choose different games while continuing to work on the same important skill.

💚 See the Complete Making Ten Games and Activities on TpT

Making Facts to Ten Stick

Learning the combinations that make 10 takes practice—and lots of it! Giving students different ways to work with the same facts keeps that practice from feeling like they’re doing the same thing over and over again.

That’s exactly why I created my Making Ten Math Center all those years ago. Whether students are rolling dice, playing Memory, coloring stacks, or feeding a dog named Ten, they’re practicing the same important combinations again and again.

And once those facts to 10 really begin to stick, students have a tool they can use in so many other areas of math.