Tens and Ones With Bean Sticks

Tens and Ones With Bean Sticks

Anyone who teaches place value to little ones knows that creating hands-on learning experiences is absolutely essential.  Base-10 materials are often expensive or hard to come by (or both), but here is an easy and inexpensive way to make your own tens and ones.

There are a lot of cute ideas for tens and ones out there on Pinterest, but many of them are confusing because they use different forms of to represent the tens and the ones.  Marshmallows and pretzel sticks may be cute (and appetizing), but when you are trying to teach that 10 of 1 thing equals 1 of the other, it is easy to confuse your students because they can’t visually see 10 marshmallows equaling 1 pretzel stick.

Bean sticks (tens) and loose beans (ones) make sense because they use the same initial counter (the bean).  The students can physically count 10 beans on one “bean stick” and will begin to associate a bean stick with the number 10.

Here’s how to make tens and ones using bean sticks.

Supplies

Popsicle sticks (regular size)

Small brown, red, or black beans (dried)

Hot glue gun (trust me, regular glue will not work if you want these bean sticks to last)

Hot glue sticks (I made a full set of 10 bean sticks using half of one hot glue stick)

Steps

1. Use your hot glue gun to make a line of hot glue down the entire length of the bean popsicle stick.
2. While the glue is still hot, carefully place the beans end to end along the stick. 10 beans will fit perfectly along the stick with very little room in between them.
3. Hold the beans down for a few seconds to allow them to set. Place to the side and allow the stick to dry completely.

This can be extremely time-consuming if you intend to create an entire class set of bean sticks, so keep this in mind.  Creating 4-6 sets will be great for small group activities.  If you have parent volunteers, this is an ideal activity because it can be sent with them to complete at home.  It’s also a great “make it and take it” activity for an Open House or Family Math Night.

Want to know some different activities to try with your new tens and ones bean sticks?  Check out this post.