Ten Frames

How to use the ten frame worksheet maker

Set up a sheet in a few clicks. The preview updates as soon as you change a setting.

1. Choose an Activity: How many? (write the number), How many more to make 10 (or 20)?, Draw dots to show a number, or Addition with two colors.
2. Pick a range under Numbers: 1 to 5, 0 to 10, 11 to 20 (double ten frames), or 0 to 20 (double ten frames).
3. Set Dots to In ten-frame order, or to Scattered (harder) once children can name filled frames quickly.
4. For addition, choose Sums: Within 10 (one frame) or Make a ten (sums 11 to 18).
5. Under Counters, choose Filled and open (black and white) or Red and blue.
6. Select Problems: 6, 8, 10 or 12.
7. Type a Title on the sheet, or keep the default, Ten Frames.
8. Leave Include answer key checked to print the key on its own page after the worksheet, or uncheck it to leave the key out.
9. Choose US Letter or A4 paper size, then press Print or save as PDF. The browser’s print dialog can also save a PDF.

Press New worksheet for a different set of numbers with the same settings. Each sheet shows a short worksheet code under the buttons. The page address stores your settings, so a bookmarked or shared link opens the same sheet again. Reset settings returns everything to the defaults.

What is a ten frame?

A ten frame is a rectangle of ten squares, arranged as two rows of five. Each square holds at most one dot or counter, which makes it a fixed picture of the numbers from 0 to 10.

Because the shape never changes, a learner can read an amount by its pattern. A full top row means five, and a full frame means ten. Seeing 10 as two rows of five builds the idea that 10 is made of two equal groups, which supports later work with place value and addition.

How do you use ten frames for addition?

Show each addend on the frame in a different color, then read the total from the shape. Sums within 10 fit on one frame, so the whole problem is visible at once.

For example, take 6 + 3. Place six red counters: the top row fills, and one more sits in the bottom row. Add three blue counters to the next empty squares in the bottom row. Nine squares are filled and one is empty, so the child can say “five and four more is nine,” or “one empty means nine.” The colors keep the two parts separate, so the child can still see where each number came from.

What is a double ten frame?

A double ten frame is two ten frames side by side, giving 20 squares. It shows numbers from 11 to 20 and answers questions about how many more are needed to reach 20.

Each teen number is one full frame plus some more. For 14, the first frame is full and four squares of the second frame are filled. Children see that 14 is “ten and four,” which is the start of understanding teen numbers as groups of ten. The question “how many more to make 20?” uses the same picture: 14 leaves six empty squares, so six more makes 20.

Why should dots fill a ten frame in order?

Filling the top row first, left to right, and then the bottom row makes each amount look the same every time. A full top row is always five, so 7 is “five and two more,” and one empty square always means 9. Children can then recognize quantities by pattern instead of counting from one.

That is why the maker fills frames in this order unless you choose scattered dots. Scattered dots are a harder next step. Without the rows to help, children must count carefully or group the dots themselves. To check whether a child is ready, flash a card for two seconds and ask how many dots there are, then ask how they knew. An answer such as “the top is full and there are two more” shows that the child is using the frame’s structure.

How do you teach making ten?

Making ten means moving counters to fill one frame, then reading what is left over. Use the Make a ten sums with two colors. Children move counters from the second frame into the first until it is full. The new problem reads as 10 plus whatever is left.

For 8 + 5, the child moves two counters from the second frame to complete the first frame, since 8 + 2 = 10. Three counters remain, so the total is 10 + 3, or 13. Doing this with real counters before writing the numbers helps the strategy stick. Afterward, show the same fact as jumps on a number line from 0 to 10, or as two pictures, such as 7 + 3 = 10 drawn on frames and written as an equation. Connecting the pictures to the symbols is the step that makes the idea transfer to new problems.