Place Value Worksheet: Tens and Ones (Free PDF)

What’s in the PDF

• Page 1 (Level 1, easier): It has six base-ten block pictures to count as tens and ones, plus six “tens and ones to a number” questions such as 3 tens 5 ones.
• Page 2 (Level 2, harder): It has six expanded form questions like 47 = 40 + 7, six numbers to split into tens and ones, and six pairs where children circle the bigger number.
• Page 3: an answer key for both levels.

Print one level at a time. If Level 1 feels easy, move straight on to Level 2.

How to teach place value

Place value is the idea that a digit is worth more or less depending on where it sits. In 34, the 3 means three tens, or 30, and the 4 means four ones. Build numbers with bundles of ten straws or sticks and loose single ones, then match them to the digits. Saying “thirty-four is three tens and four ones” out loud links the words to the picture.

What to watch for

A common mix-up is reading 14 and 41 as the same number, or writing forty-one as 401. Use blocks to show that the tens digit always comes first. Also check that children count a ten stick as ten, not as one.

Game: Bundle it

Give your child a pile of 20 to 60 straws, pasta pieces or lolly sticks. They bundle them in tens with elastic bands, then say and write how many tens and ones. Swap roles and see who can bundle fastest.

Everyday practice

Look at house numbers, bus numbers or prices and ask how many tens and how many ones. Counting money in tens and ones, like ten coins and single coins, is place value in real life.

Questions to ask while they work

• How many tens are in this number?
• What is the 6 worth in 63?
• Which number is bigger, and how do you know?

Practise next

Try addition within 20, money, telling time. Need a warm-up? Go back to skip counting by 10s. The hundreds chart shows tens and ones in neat rows.