Place value games with hundreds, tens and ones
A digit’s position tells us its value. In 243, the 2 represents two hundreds, the 4 represents four tens and the 3 represents three ones: 200 + 40 + 3 = 243. This free workshop makes those parts visible with base-ten blocks. A small square is one, a rod contains ten squares and a flat contains one hundred squares.
Choose tens and ones for numbers from 0 to 99, or add a hundreds place for numbers from 0 to 999. Zero places stay visible: 103 has one hundred, zero tens and three ones, while 130 has one hundred, three tens and zero ones. There are no decimals, negative numbers or thousands in this activity.
Explore and exchange equal values
Open the blocks to make your own number. Add or remove one, ten or one hundred using the labelled buttons. Show a number creates its usual hundreds-tens-and-ones form. Clear mat empties the current mat; Undo last change brings back the previous representation. Each number range keeps its own exploration mat on this device.
Open Exchange equal values to bundle ten ones into one ten, or ten tens into one hundred. The reverse buttons split a ten into ten ones or a hundred into ten tens. These exchanges change the representation while preserving the total. For example, 23 can be two tens and three ones, or one ten and thirteen ones. The display allows up to nineteen ones and nineteen tens so that these exchanges are visible; it stops changes that would exceed the selected number range.
Three ways to practise, with time to think
Read a number shows blocks and asks for their total. Choose one of four numbers, then Check my answer. Build a number gives a target; add and remove blocks until you have that total, with fewer than ten blocks in each place. Make equal bundles starts with an unbundled representation. Use only the exchange buttons to put it into the usual digit form without changing its value.
Each activity has a route to 99 and a separate route to 999. A round contains eight challenges, including examples with empty places. An incorrect answer stays available, with feedback and another try. Show the parts gives the target’s hundreds, tens and ones; it reveals support rather than deducting points. Correct answers wait for Next challenge, and Finish round records completion.
Completing a route earns its sticker in the sticker book, including when hints were used. Stickers record supported practice, not independent mastery or a complete maths assessment. You can replay any completed route without losing the stickers already collected.
Phone, keyboard and saved progress
The game uses large labelled buttons and native selectors; dragging is not required. With a keyboard, Tab to a control and use Enter or Space. Holding an activation key does not repeatedly check or advance questions. The diagram has a written description of its block counts so that visual inspection is not the only way to read the representation. The workshop works silently, with no automatic speech or countdown.
Your six practice routes and two exploration mats save separately in this browser. Change activity returns to the menu, keeping the current work. Returning to a checked question still requires Next. Favourites and recent games retain the selected activity and number range. If storage is blocked, a visible message explains that you can keep playing on the current page but may lose progress when you leave. Clearing browser storage can remove saved work and stickers.
Connect the representations
Try making 34, then exchanging one ten for ten ones. What changed, and what stayed the same? For another view of adding ten, explore the hundred square. Use Number Line Workshop to compare number positions, or Tens Train for bonds to one hundred in tens.
England’s mathematics programme includes recognising tens and ones in Year 2 and hundreds, tens and ones in Year 3, using varied representations and partitions. This workshop covers selected examples of those ideas; the range is a choice, not an age test or a deadline for an individual learner. Read the DfE programme of study.
To compare distances and choose the nearest ten, hundred or thousand, try Rounding Workshop: free exploration and eight saved practice routes.