Make Your Own Base Ten Blocks

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

I love teaching place value to my first graders! It is definitely not the easiest concept to teach, but watching students go from not even knowing what place value is to having a good understanding to build upon is almost magical.

Base ten blocks are the key to teaching place value. They are invaluable tools. The only problem with them is that you cannot hang them on the whiteboard or your fridge at home for practicing because they are not magnetic! Nowadays, you can buy magnetic base ten blocks, but they are not cheap. So I decided to make my own from a template and some magnetic tape.  And I love using them, and my students love learning with them.

If you are wondering about the basics of place value and using base ten blocks or looking for more ideas, see our post,  Everything You Need to Know about Place Value: A Primer for Teachers and Parents.

Making the Base Ten Blocks

Materials Needed:

✔️base ten blocks templates (download here)
✔️scissors
✔️magnetic tape
✔️ laminator, packing tape, or contact paper (optional)

Creating the Base Ten Blocks

✏️  Download and print the free template here. You may want to enlarge them, so print the templates first before going on. Once you have the size you like, print them on card stock for durability. Make as many copies as you like. 

✏️  Cut out the base ten blocks. Laminate them if you like. You can also cover them with packing tape or contact paper. I found the card stock durable enough and did not need to laminate. 

✏️  Affix magnetic tape to the back of each piece. This can be a bit tedious, but once it is done, you will be so happy you did it!

Using the Base Ten Blocks

There are endless ways to use these base ten blocks. You can begin simply by introducing the ones, tens, and hundreds to your students or child.  Then have some fun and play some games with them. 

This week, I used the magnetic base ten blocks to teach my group addition with regrouping. Here is how it went.

✏️ I created a math problem that required regrouping on the board. We then created the math problem using magnetic blocks, as shown below.

✏️ We began in the ones place- as we always should and added the ones together.  We slid the 8 ones and 4 ones down below the line to get 12. As soon as my students heard the number 12, the alarms went off, and we knew we had to regroup!

✏️ We then swapped 10 of the 12 ones for a ten and moved it to the tens’ place, and left the remaining 2 ones where they were.

✏️ We moved onto the tens place, where we slid all the tens- including the new ten we just added down and counted them. We now had 6 tens or 60.

✏️ So we added the tens (60) to the ones (2) and we got our answer! The answer is 62! We did it. Then I modeled the algorithm, and we were well on our way to addition with regrouping!

Using the Blocks at Home

These base ten blocks are not only for the classroom! I did not have any base ten blocks at home when my boys were young, so these really helped. We hung them on our refrigerator, and the boys practiced while I made dinner or cleaned up the kitchen. I would give them prompts such as:

“Make me a number that has a 1 in the tens place.”

“Make me a 2-digit number with a 3 in the ones place.”

“Make me the number 18 then take away 2 ones and tell me the new number.”

How will you use your base ten blocks with your students? Comment and share below!

Looking for More Place Value Ideas?

Place Value Pocket

Place Value Primer

Place Value Robots