Place Value Games: Tens and Ones Bingo with Bonus Activity

Teaching place value can be fun when making use of different games and activities to engage your students. In this blog post, I will share one of my first graders’ all-time favorite tens and ones place value games. This idea could be adapted for other grades beyond 1st grade, and I’ll be sharing how this game could be utilized to carry out a bonus activity.

Place Value Bingo: A Fun and Competitive Way to Learn and Review Place Value

Who doesn’t love to play bingo? Whenever I am teaching and reviewing place value, I always like to incorporate a bingo game into my lessons. Kids love it, and some even beg to play again! Bingo is a game that can be easily adapted to teach any topic. Using place value models or tens and ones visuals help children understand the concept of base ten, which is an important foundation for working with larger numbers later on.

To create a Place Value Bingo game, simply create a set of bingo cards with base ten blocks clipart. To do so, I create a 4 by 4 grid and insert 16 random number representations in the tens and ones place. I usually create a bingo card for each student in my class, but you could also ask students to work in pairs if you don’t have time to create a large number of cards.

How to Play Place Value Bingo: Rules and Variations

Playing the game is easy, and the rules can be adapted to suit the needs of your classroom. To play the game, draw number cards, one by one, and call out each number. Have students try to locate that representation on their bingo card. If they have it, they need to mark it. Simple classroom manipulatives such as colored chips or math cubes could be used.

The objective of the game is for the children to cover all the number representations on their bingo card. The first child to cover their entire board wins the game. Alternatively, you could adapt the rules to require children to cover a whole row, rather than the entire board.

At times, instead of calling out the number on the calling card, I like to state variations to help children think more about the numbers and their value. For example, for the number 59, I might say “5 tens and 9 ones” or “ten more than 49”. You could otherwise write the number word on the whiteboard. This provides a fun challenge for my students while keeping the activity motivating.

Place Value Bingo Activity for Numbers up to 100

If you’re on a time crunch, or just want a game ready to be printed, you might like to check out my place value bingo game with numbers up to 100. The activity consists of 30 different bingo cards, each with 16 random number representations using base ten blocks. These cards contain base ten models of numbers up to 100, making it a great game for children in 1st grade. Additionally, the game comes with four sheets containing all the numbers from 1 to 100 (calling cards).

Bonus Activity: Matching Game with Place Value Bingo Cards

A bonus activity I like to carry out using the same bingo cards and numeral calling cards is a matching game. This activity could be carried out in a small group setting, in pairs, or as an independent activity. Students have to identify the 16 numbers being represented on their card and cover them by placing the matching numerals on top. As an extension task, you could ask children to identify the greatest and smallest numbers on their board, and also to place the 16 numeral cards in ascending order.

Benefits of Using Place Value Bingo in the Classroom

One of the great benefits of this bingo game is that it helps children to develop their mathematical fluency. They are required to quickly recognize and understand the value shown by the different base ten blocks in order to cover the correct spaces on their bingo card. Additionally, as children play the game, they become more comfortable with the concept of place value, which is an important foundation for understanding more complex mathematical concepts.

The Place Value Bingo Game is also a great tool for teachers, as it provides an opportunity to assess children’s understanding of place value in a fun and engaging way. By observing which children are struggling with the game, teachers can identify areas where students need extra support and guidance.

By incorporating fun place value activities like bingo into classroom activities, teachers can make learning more enjoyable and help children develop the foundational skills they need to succeed in math.  Place value bingo game is an excellent way to engage children in learning and reinforcing their understanding of place value.

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