Place Value Games for Kindergarteners

The Kindergarten math goes way beyond basic number recognition, figuring out different shapes and counting skills. Toddlers, at this point in time, begin to tackle with basic addition and subtraction skills and they also tend to learn complex concepts, such as place value and skip counting. At this level, children at kindergarten require a lot of practice time as well as ample of visual illustrations to help them understand these new concepts coming on their way ahead. 

Through SplashMath learning games, kindergarteners will find a plethora of free math game choices involving worksheets and puzzle games designed for children to provide them with needed practice and visual examples. With the help of these math worksheets, parents can help reinforce basic counting skills and even introduce their kids to the new concepts of mathematics. This is done through free videos, worksheets and fun games that allow the kids to have a fun practice of those concepts which children find hard to attempt.

Since States have adopted the common core standards, things are completely changed now, our kindergartners are becoming little mathematicians. They need to be equipped with proper guidance and mathematical skills, from the very basic level so that they don’t have to face difficulties in their upcoming educational levels.

SplashMath has designed fun math games for kindergarteners to teach them about "place values viz. ones and tens" in an engaging and play way manner. These games are a great avenue for parents to help their little ones gain an understanding of place values and enhance their math skills. It will embellish their subtraction and addition skills as they are required to add and subtract the values of numbers. These place value games are also a great way to build their focus and improve their hand-eye coordination at a young age. When children learn to count, they basically learn numbers as a kind of "continuum" that goes on and on. With simple counting the child might not catch onto the inherent structure of the number system, and how it is built with groups of tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on.

Significance of Place Value

Place value is one of those significant concepts that kids should be well aware of before moving on to other things in math. Children who are unable to secure understanding of place value definition tend to have a terrible experience with adding or subtracting larger numbers, regrouping, estimating, and later skills of multiplication and division. They will, unfortunately, have a hard time getting a practical sense of how much a number refers to, and may have poor number sense skills. They may even reverse numbers when reading or writing, such as writing 68 instead of 86, because the order of the numbers means very little to them. Later on, this skill will be essential in understanding money for example, the difference between $55 and $505 and other numbers in general. Therefore, it is utmost important that the kids practice various place value worksheets for building a strong base. There are many place value games and place value activities on the internet that can help in the deeper understanding of the concept.

Progression of Place Value through Grades

Kindergarten: The kids learn to compose and decompose numbers into tens and ones. They work with numbers from 11 to 20. They use objects, pictures, and drawings to practice their newly learned skills.                

Grade 1: The kids learn to count to 120. They learn to decompose two digits numbers into tens and ones. For instance, they understand that 18 = 1 ten + 8 ones. Also, they understand that 20 can be written as 2 tens, 40 can be written as 4 tens etc. They are able to compare two digits numbers on the basis of their place value understanding. They learn to add and subtract within 100 using their understanding of value place. They learn to add a two digits number to a single digit number or add a two digits number to a multiple of 10. They are able to mentally find 10 more or 10 less than a number without counting. For instance, 45 + 10 = 55. The kids develop an understanding that adding ten to a number increases the digit at tens place by 1.

Grade 2: The kids in this grade learn the place value of chart consisting of ones, tens, and hundreds. For example, they understand that 832 represents 8 hundreds, 3 tens and 2 ones. They also develop skills to skip-count by 100s, 10s, and 5s. They learn number names and expanded forms of numbers. They apply place value understanding to fluently add and subtract within 100s.

Grade 3: The kids at this grade round whole numbers to nearest 10 and 100s. They apply strategies based on place value fluently add and subtract within 1000s. They also learn to multiply one-digit numbers by multiples of 10.

Grade 4: In grade 4, the kids understand place value chart in detail. They recognize that a digit at one place represents ten times of what it represents to its right. They perform multi-digit operations by applying place value understanding.

Grade 5: In this grade, the kids get introduced to the decimal system. They apply their place value strategies to understand decimal place value.

Step by Step Guide to Teaching Place Value in Kindergarten

The kindergarten kids are expected to compose and decompose numbers from 11 to 20.

• Decomposing numbers into ones: The kids learn to decompose numbers less than 10 into ones. For instance, they decompose 8 into 5 ones and 3 ones. This activity develops decomposing skills in the kids. The thorough practice of these skills by solving kindergarten worksheets help them understand decomposing numbers into tens and ones. Example of one such worksheet is:

• Decomposing numbers into ten ones and some ones: The kids start counting teen numbers in two separate parts. For instance, they count 14 as 10 ones and 4 ones. This is taught using objects like small cubes or straws. The kids also practice this concept though pictorial representations.

For example, the picture shows 14 pencils. The kids separate them and count these as 10 ones and 4 ones.

• Understanding 10 ones = 1 tens: The kids learn 10 ones are called as 1 ten. The kids relate their counting skills of counting to 10 to understand how 10 ones make 1 ten. For instance, when kids count an object from 1 to 10, they realize they have 10 such objects. They relate this understanding to learn that 10 ones = 1 ten.

• Decomposing numbers into tens and ones: The kids learn to decompose teen numbers into tens and ones. This concept is taught using drawings, pictures or equations.  They understand that 16 = 1 ten + 6 ones. They are expected to solve counting worksheets like the ones given below:

SplashMath: Making Math Fun

SplashLearn stands as a fun and engaging math games program that are aligned in tandem with the common core standards followed in the USA. The knowledge and skills that students need to possess in primary grades for mathematics are woven throughout this mathematics program that deftly brushes them up. This application is a true workbook which not just embellish the mathematical skills but also rewards kids with artificial coins. The feature of reviewing the progress report attracts parents and teachers. Parents get the chance to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of their children and improve them in future.