Why ten frames work
A ten frame shows a number as a picture children can read without counting one by one. Five fills a row, ten fills the frame, and the empty boxes show how many more make ten. That picture is the base of adding within 10 and understanding teen numbers.
Three ways to practise
- How many? Count the dots and write the number.
- Make 10. Count the empty boxes to find what makes ten.
- Teens. One full frame and some more: ten and some ones.
In the MOE curriculum
- K1–K2The NEL Framework asks children to count up to 10 things and name the parts that make a whole up to 10.
- Primary 1Place value in tens and ones, and mental addition and subtraction within 20.
Ten frames are not named in the syllabus, but they sit naturally beside number bonds, Singapore’s usual picture for parts and wholes. After a Make 10 problem, ask children to draw the matching number bond: 10 as the whole, the filled boxes as one part and the empty boxes as the other.
The Teens sheets prepare children for P1 place value: a full frame is one ten, and the dots on the second frame are the ones. Writing 16 as “1 ten 6 ones” under each pair makes the link clear.
Summarised in our own words from the MOE Primary Mathematics Syllabus (2021, updated October 2025) and the Nurturing Early Learners Framework (2022).
