Caterpillar Making Ten Cards for Spring
Grab this caterpillar making ten math activity for hands-on practice with friends of ten this spring. It’s perfect for math centers in kindergarten!
Caterpillar Making Ten Math Activity
Making ten is also called friends of ten, partners of ten, and combinations of ten. No matter what you call it, this is an essential foundational math skill for young students. It builds number sense and helps with addition fluency.
The kids will love making ten cards to practice their math skills in a fun, interactive way. Using this math activity, students will practice finding the number that makes 10 when added to a given number and then record the answer with an equation.
This free printable includes 11 caterpillar cards, each with a different number of body segments colored in. Students will draw a card, add manipulatives to build a caterpillar with 10 parts and then record the equation on their answer sheet.
Number Sense Activity for Spring
These caterpillar-making ten-task cards are so easy to prep for your kids, and it won’t take long to have a few sets made for your math stations or number centers.
To use them, you will need a few manipulatives for the students to fill in the ten frames. You can change it up using mini erasers, dry-erase markers, counters, and more! You can find fun-themed items at the Dollar Store or Target!
Once you have printed the cards, cut them out and laminate them for durability if you would like. Store them in a large bag, tray, or photo bin.
Another option, that requires even less prep, is to slide a whole sheet of four cards into a write-and-wipe pocket and use dry-erase markers to write the number sentences on the recording sheets.
Setting Up Making Ten Math Cards
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Supplies Needed:
- Making Ten Cards (button to get them at the bottom of this post)
- Manipulatives like mini erasers, mini pom poms, play dough, etc.
- Scissors
- Dry Eraser Markers
Directions:
- Print the cards and recording sheet. There are four cards per page.
- Laminate the cards.
- Cut the cards apart.
- Place the cards, dry-erase markers, and manipulatives in a bag or on a tray for easy access.
Learning Friends of Ten
Students will have lots of fun using this highly engaging making 10 math cards!
To begin, the child will pick a card from the pile and count how many of the caterpillar’s segments are colored in. Then they will add the remaining parts need to make ten. They can do this by adding manipulatives to each of the blank white spaces or coloring them in.
Once they have a caterpillar with ten parts they will make an equation to match. The part that was already filled in is the first number in the equation and the number of parts added to complete the caterpillar is the second number in the equation. Finally, they will complete the equation by showing the sum of the two numbers.
For example, if a caterpillar has three segments already colored in and seven segments left blank, they will write 3+7=10 on their recording sheet.
This gives students lots of hands-on practice with making ten and writing number sentences to match!
Partners of Ten Math Activity
There are tons of ways to differentiate this activity! You can use the cards for numbers 1-5 first and then expand when students are ready.
If students aren’t ready to write the whole equation, you can write in the sum and students can fill in the addends. Or you can fill in the addend already shown on the recording sheet, and students can fill in the missing addend.
This making ten math activity is a fun, engaging, and effective way to learn this critical math skill! I hope it’s super helpful to you and your students.
Get the Caterpillar Making Ten Cards below!
Here are some more ideas for your spring centers.
Caterpillar Roll and Cover the Number Mats
Caterpillar Comparing Sets Task Cards
Alphabet Caterpillar Letters and Sounds Match Up
Spring Bee Roll and Cover Number Mats Free Printable
Flower Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity