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Number Bonds to 10 Activities: The UK Parent's Guide

Ten hands-on activities to help your 5–6-year-old master number bonds to 10 — pairs like 3 + 7. No worksheets, just games you play together.

By Bright Play Days Editorial Team Updated 6 min read

Number bonds to 10 are the pairs of numbers that add up to 10: 1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, 5 + 5, plus the reverses. They underpin Year 1 addition and subtraction in the UK curriculum — best taught through short, hands-on games that let children see, touch and chant each pair until it is automatic.

Mother and young daughter playing a ten-frame counting game at a kitchen table.

The short version

  • Bonds to 10 are pairs summing to 10: 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5 (and reverses).
  • Hands-on games beat worksheets: ten of something, split and paired.
  • Little and often — one short game a day builds fluency fastest.
Age
Ages 5–6
Prep
10 min
Play time
20 min
Mess
None
Difficulty
Easy
Where
Both

Why kids love this

No sitting still and no worksheets — just throwing, hopping, threading and baking, with an "I knew that!" moment in every game.

What are number bonds to 10? Number bonds to 10 are the pairs of numbers that add up to 10: 1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, 5 + 5 — and the reverses. "Number bonds" is standard UK curriculum language, the exact phrase used in Year 1 maths. All six pairs, with their reverses, are: 1 + 9 and 9 + 1; 2 + 8 and 8 + 2; 3 + 7 and 7 + 3; 4 + 6 and 6 + 4; 5 + 5. Order does not change the pair — 3 + 7 and 7 + 3 are the same bond — and saying both forms out loud ("three and seven make ten; seven and three make ten") is part of learning them. The 5 + 5 pair is the one most children meet first, because doubling is easy to see on two hands.

Why do number bonds matter for young children? These pairs underpin primary maths. Once automatic, bigger additions feel easy — 3 + 7 = 10 makes 13 + 7 = 20 straightforward — and subtraction comes free, since 5 + 5 = 10 reveals 10 − 5 = 5. That is why schools teach them explicitly in Year 1. Bonds also teach missing-part thinking: "10 minus 6 leaves 4" is the same knowledge as "6 and 4 make 10", seen from the other side. You will know a bond is sticking when your child answers without counting up on their fingers — a pause, then the partner number, straight away. If a pair keeps slipping, go back to fingers and beads for that pair alone; fluency for one pair at a time beats a shaky grasp of all six.

How can you teach number bonds to 10 at home? Every game uses ten of something — fingers, beads, counters, balls. Work through the steps as one session or a few across the week; little and often beats one long session. One game a day is plenty: play it, chant the pair a few times, and move on while it is still fun. Mix the pairs up rather than always running them in 1-to-9 order, so your child recalls each bond rather than reciting a sequence. The games sit inside the counting and early-number work in the counting hub and the wider math hub, and if the egg-box frame clicks, addition with ten frames offers more games in the same format.

What you'll need

  • Egg box (lid removed), 10 counters, 2 dice, dominoes
  • Cord with 10 large beads; 10 ping-pong balls, 2 buckets
  • String, pegs, number cards 1–9; chalk; 10 paper bun cases in two colours, muffin tray

Before you start

Snip the egg-box lid off, thread the beads onto the cord, and write numerals 1–9 on the cards. Set the buckets a few metres apart; everything else can be grabbed as you go.

How to do it

  1. Finger pairs warm-up. You hold up 3 fingers; your child holds up the rest (7): "3 add 7 makes 10!" Try 5 + 5, 6 + 4, 2 + 8, 9 + 1.

    Mother and five-year-old boy holding up fingers for a counting game in the living room

  2. Egg-box ten frame. Place 4 counters in the cups; your child fills the empties: 4 + 6 = 10. Rearrange — 7 + 3, 2 + 8, 1 + 9.

    Boy placing wooden counters into a cardboard egg box on the kitchen table

  3. Dice pairs. Roll two dice and add the spots. Totals of exactly 10 — 4 + 6, 5 + 5 — win a counter and a shout of "Bond!"

    Boy rolling two blurred wooden dice on a play mat while his mother watches nearby

  4. Domino hunt. Find dominoes whose ends total 10 — 3 and 7, 5 and 5 — and lay them in a snake.

    Boy laying wooden dominoes in a snake line on the living-room floor with his mother

  5. Bond bracelet. Slide 6 beads to one end; your child slides the rest: "6 and 4 make 10." It stays on their wrist all day.

    Boy sliding wooden beads onto a cord bracelet at the kitchen table beside his mother

  6. Bucket toss. Toss ten ping-pong balls between two buckets. Count the split — 3 and 7 means 3 + 7 = 10.

    Boy tossing a ping-pong ball towards two colourful buckets on the garden lawn

  7. Washing-line pairs. Peg cards 1–9 to a string. Hand your child a card — say 8 — and ask them to peg its partner (2) beside it.

    Boy pegging blank pastel cards onto a string washing line in the kitchen

  8. Bond hopscotch. Chalk a hopscotch with a pair beside each square — 3 and 7 — and hop the course calling out the bonds.

    Boy hopping joyfully along a chalk hopscotch course on the garden patio

  9. Bun-case bakery. Line up ten paper bun cases in two colours in a muffin tray. Your child splits them by colour; count the split: 2 + 8 = 10.

    Boy placing paper bun cases into a muffin tray in the kitchen with his mother

  10. Clap-and-chant recap. Clap together: "1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5 — all make 10!" Once slow, once at top speed.

    Mother and boy laughing while playing a clapping hand game on the rug

Make it easier

Start with 5 + 5, 1 + 9 and 2 + 8; add the rest over days. Play one game a day rather than all ten at once.

Make it harder

Ask: "What goes with 6 to make 10?" — bonds work backwards too. Try bonds to 20 with the same games: 15 + 5, 12 + 8. Once bonds are instant, comparing numbers games stretch the same number sense to bigger-or-smaller thinking, and more early-addition play lives in our addition games for kindergarten collection.

Other ways to play it

  • Memory match: Cards face down; match pairs totalling 10.
  • Bond towers: Two block towers using exactly ten blocks.
  • Car-game bonds: You say a number; they shout its partner.
  • Toy hunt: Hide ten toys; find some, work out how many remain.
  • Number-bond printable: the maths number bonds printable gives the same pairs as a quiet table activity for rainy days.

How it changes by age

  • These games suit ages 5–6, when most UK children meet number bonds in Year 1. The 5-year-olds age hub has more activities pitched at this year. Confident 4-year-olds can start with 5 + 5 and 1 + 9; older strugglers benefit from revisiting them. Younger siblings still building one-to-one counting can start with counting activities for toddlers before tackling pairs.

What they're learning

All six bonds to 10: 1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, 5 + 5 (and reverses). The addition–subtraction link: 6 + 4 = 10 reveals 10 − 6 = 4. Subitising — recognising small quantities at a glance. Finding a missing partner: a first taste of equations.

Clearing up

Counters, beads and cards go back in one labelled tub for next time. Rinse the egg box if grubby; wipe chalk dust from the patio with water.

Questions parents ask

What are number bonds to 10?
The pairs of numbers that add up to 10: 1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, 5 + 5, plus each pair in reverse. "Number bonds" is the term used in the UK curriculum, so it is the wording your child will meet in Year 1 maths.
At what age should children learn number bonds to 10?
Most UK children learn them in Year 1, at ages 5–6, as part of the national curriculum. Younger children can start with 5 + 5 through play; older ones who find subtraction tricky benefit from revisiting them.
Why are number bonds to 10 so important?
They underpin primary-school maths. Once automatic, they ease larger additions — 3 + 7 = 10 helps with 13 + 7 = 20 — and subtraction comes free, since 5 + 5 = 10 reveals that 10 − 5 = 5.
How can I help my child remember number bonds to 10?
Play short, hands-on games with ten of something — counters, beads, dice or fingers. Five-minute daily bursts of splitting, pairing and chanting, plus celebrating quick recalls, beats worksheets every time.

Bonds reward repetition without drill. If your child groans at one game, swap to another — the pairs are identical in every activity. Celebrate instant recalls ("you just knew that!"); fluency grows when children notice they are getting faster.

Mother and young daughter playing a ten-frame counting game at a kitchen table.

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