Fun with Numbers
Class 1 · Mathematics
4 ideas in Class 1 Mathematics, explained in plain words, with games and quizzes to practise.
Tens and Ones
Part of: Numbers up to 100
Big numbers are packs of ten plus loose ones. 21 is 2 tens and 1 one. A box of 10 oranges is one ten, and a tens frame shows ten dots in a full row.
Why it matters. Tens and ones unlock every two-digit number. Without them children read 21 as two-one instead of twenty-one.
Try it in two minutes
- Bundle 21 sticks as two tens and one single.
- Ask: how many tens and how many ones?
- Say: 2 tens and 1 one make 21.
Try at home. Bundle 34 buttons into tens and singles and ask how many tens there are.
Number Names to 100
Part of: Numbers up to 100
After twenty comes twenty-one up to thirty, then the same pattern repeats: forty-seven, sixty-five, ninety-nine, and finally one hundred.
Why it matters. Names turn symbols into speech. Children who can say numbers can also place them on the ginladi string.
Try it in two minutes
- Point at 47 and read it together: forty-seven.
- Clip number cards 61 to 70 in order on a string.
- Ask: which is bigger, seventy or sixty?
Try at home. Call out numbers between 50 and 100 and ask your child to write them.
Before, After and Between
Part of: Numbers up to 100
Every number has neighbours: 29 sits before 30, 31 sits after it, and 45 sits between 44 and 46. Counting backwards goes the other way: 30, 29, 28.
Why it matters. Neighbours make the number line feel like a neighbourhood. Children use them to check sums and play number games.
Try it in two minutes
- Stand on 30 on a floor line. Step back and ask: where are you?
- Ask: what sits between 44 and 46?
- Count backwards aloud from 30 to 25.
Try at home. Ask your child what comes just before and just after 59.
Reading the Number Grid
Part of: Numbers up to 100
The number chart lines up 1 to 100 in rows of ten. Neighbours sit side by side, and a ladder can jump many steps, like 4 up to 25.
Why it matters. The chart shows the whole system at once. Children spot tens, neighbours and jumps in one picture.
Try it in two minutes
- Find 56 on the chart and name its side neighbours.
- Cover 98 in the row 96, 97, blank, 99 and ask what hides there.
- Jump a coin from 4 to 25 and count the steps.
Try at home. Ask your child to find 73 on the chart and say if it is bigger or smaller than 79.
What your child will practise
- Before, After and Between: Desert Quest (Flip and Match)
- Before, After and Between: Jungle Quick Fire (Quick Fire)
- Number Names to 100: Treasure Quest (Match It Up)
- Reading the Number Grid: Desert Puzzle (Clue Puzzle)
- Tens and Ones: Space Quest (Collect the Answer)
- Quiz: Before, After and Between (8 questions)
- Quiz: Number Names to 100 (8 questions)
- Quiz: Reading the Number Grid (8 questions)
- Quiz: Tens and Ones (8 questions)