Grade 1 Ten frames Worksheets

Understanding ten frames

A ten frame is a two-by-five grid of boxes that holds up to ten counters, and the number of filled boxes shows a quantity at a glance. In kindergarten and Grade 1 children count the filled spaces and write the number, which builds a strong mental image of how numbers relate to ten. Because the frame makes “how many more to ten” obvious, it supports fast addition facts later on.

For example, a frame with the top row of five full and three more in the bottom row shows 8, and it is easy to see that two boxes are still empty, so 8 needs 2 to reach 10. A common mistake is recounting from one every time instead of seeing the full top row as five. A helpful tip is to treat a full row as five and then count on the extra counters below, saying “five … six, seven, eight.”