Playing with 10 frames

Happy weekend everyone!  Hope back to school time is going well for all of you.  I wanted to take the time to share with you a fun idea that is great for this time of year in Kindergarten and first grade. I have written several times about the importance of 10 frames but this is a fun way to get kids lots of practice with the structure of 10 frames in a fun and engaging way.

All you need is some table space and a roll of painting tape.  The roll I used is Scotch 2 inch tape.  Thinner tape would work just as well if not better!  I have had this roll for various projects at home and school for at least 5 years.  The reason for using painting tape is that it will not peal the finish of your surface or leave a sticky mess behind.  

I like to get this set up and let the kids play with it before addressing it as a whole group.  I put the cars or animals or other themed thing nearby and let them try it out.  It is a great way to tie in a classroom theme if you have one.  Once they have had some experience with playing with the 10 frame, I like to bring them together and talk about how we can use 10 frames for numbers and math.  There are many things you can do with 10 frames to improve early numeracy, you can check a bunch of them out here!  

You might also be interested in checking out how I made this magnetic 10 frame!