Tens and Ones for Kids: Place Value (Grade 1 and Grade 2 Math)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we are learning about tens and ones. This is called place value, and it is the secret to understanding big numbers.

Counting lots of little things takes a long time. So here is the big idea. When we have ten ones, we bundle them together into one ten. Let's count ten cubes. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Now we snap them together into one stick. This is one ten. One ten is the same as ten ones.

Let's look at the number twenty three. It has two digits. The first digit, two, is in the tens place. It means two tens. The second digit, three, is in the ones place. It means three ones.

Two tens is twenty, and three ones is three. Twenty and three makes twenty three.

Let's build another number. Four tens and six ones. Four sticks of ten, and six little cubes. Forty and six is forty six.

Careful, the order of the digits matters. Forty six and sixty four are different numbers. Forty six has four tens. Sixty four has six tens, so it is much bigger.

Now it's your turn. How many tens and ones are in the number thirty seven? Pause and think. Three is in the tens place, so three tens. Seven is in the ones place, so seven ones. Thirty plus seven is thirty seven.

Great job! Remember, ten ones make one ten, the first digit tells the tens and the second digit tells the ones. Practice tens and ones in the Math Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!