Number Bonds to 10
Number bonds to 10 are the pairs of numbers that add together to make 10 (0+10, 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5, and their reverses), learned until a child can recall them instantly rather than counting them out each time.
Method
- Use ten as a fixed, visual frame from the start: a ten-frame (two rows of five boxes) or an egg box with ten sections lets a child see 10 as 'how full' a shape is, which makes both parts of a bond visible at once - the counters placed, and the empty boxes remaining.
- Fill the ten-frame with counters of one colour, then physically cover some with a card to show a hidden part, and ask the child to work out how many are hidden. This is the concrete stage, and it forces the child to reason about the missing part rather than just counting what is visible.
- Move to a bar model or a part-part-whole diagram as the pictorial stage: draw a bar labelled 10 split into two parts, one part given, and ask the child to find the other part. The same diagram works whether the missing part is written as an addition or read as a subtraction, which is the bridge into the two-part instant-recall skill.
- Drill both directions of every pair explicitly: ask '6 add what makes 10' and, on a separate occasion, 'what is 10 take away 6', so the child learns addition and subtraction bonds together rather than only ever practising the addition direction.
- Use ten fingers as a portable, always-available model once the ten-frame idea is understood: holding up 7 fingers and counting the 3 folded down is the same structure as the ten-frame, just without equipment.
- Move to the abstract stage - number sentences with a missing number, such as 10 = 4 + ? or 8 + ? = 10 - only once the child can answer instantly from the picture stage. Missing-number position matters: children who are only ever shown ? + 4 = 10 sometimes cannot solve 4 + ? = 10, so vary where the gap appears.
- Watch for the common error of simply guessing or counting on fingers from 1 every time rather than recalling the pair: if a child counts out loud from 1 to find what goes with 6, the fact has not yet moved from counting to recall, and needs more of the concrete ten-frame practice before more written questions are added.
Worked example
A ten-frame has 3 counters in it. How many more counters are needed to fill it to 10?
- Picture the ten-frame: it has 10 boxes in total, arranged in two rows of 5.
- 3 boxes already have a counter in them.
- Count the empty boxes that are left: 10 boxes take away 3 filled boxes leaves 7 empty boxes.
- So 7 more counters are needed, because 3 and 7 is a number bond to 10.
Practice questions
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Q1What number goes with 6 to make a bond to 10?Show answer
Answer: 4
Q210 = 9 + ?. Write the missing number.Show answer
Answer: 1
Q3Write the two missing numbers to complete: 2 + ? = 10 and ? + 2 = 10.Show answer
Answer: 8 and 8
Q4A ten-frame has 8 counters filled in. How many boxes are still empty?Show answer
Answer: 2
Q5Yusuf has 10 stickers in total. 5 are stars and the rest are hearts. How many are hearts?Show answer
Answer: 5 hearts
Q6Circle the pair of numbers that does NOT make a bond to 10: (3 and 7) (5 and 5) (6 and 3)Show answer
Answer: 6 and 3 (6 + 3 = 9, not 10)
Q7Tegan has some conkers hidden in her hand and 4 conkers on the table. Altogether she has 10 conkers. How many are hidden in her hand?Show answer
Answer: 6 conkers
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a KS1 Maths exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Deepa has a bag that holds 10 grapes when full. She has already put 7 grapes in the bag. How many more grapes does she need to fill the bag? Show your working.
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Fill in the missing numbers: ? + 8 = 10 and 10 - 8 = ?.
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Callum says the number bond that goes with 9 to make 10 is 2. Is Callum correct? Explain your answer and give the correct pair if he is wrong.
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the number bonds to 10 worksheet pack - 7 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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