Number bonds: the facts that make adding easy
A number bond is a pair of numbers that make a total: 3 and 2 make 5, 6 and 4 make 10. Knowing these pairs by heart is one of the biggest steps in early math, because almost every addition and subtraction strategy uses them. This free number bonds game teaches them with pictures first and numbers later.
Step 1: bonds to 5 and 10
A frame shows some counters and some empty boxes. The question asks how many more make the total. On level 1 the frame has five boxes; on level 2 it has ten. The empty boxes show the answer, so children can always work it out, and the tip says the bond out loud: “7 and 3 make 10”. On level 3 the picture is gone, and your child answers from memory.
Step 2: add to 5
Two groups of counters, red and blue, share a small frame. How many altogether? Children see that joining two parts gives the whole, the same idea as a number bond, turned around.
Step 3: make ten
This is where bonds pay off. The question is 8 + 5, and two ten frames show 8 and 5. The tip explains the strategy: 8 needs 2 to make 10, take 2 from the 5, 3 are left, so 10 + 3 = 13. Children who know their bonds of 10 can add any two numbers up to 20 this way, without counting on their fingers. Research on fact fluency describes this kind of derived-fact strategy as the bridge between counting and simply knowing the answer.
Why pictures first
Studies of the concrete, pictorial, abstract approach show that children understand addition and subtraction better when they first work with objects and pictures and only then with numbers alone. Each step in this game follows that sequence across its three levels. The same approach is used in many classrooms that teach with part-whole models and ten frames.
Friendly and short
Ten questions per level, big answer buttons, no timer, and a helpful tip after every mistake. Stars and progress are saved on your device. For the full path, from counting to subtraction within 20, play Math Games for Kids, and for the picture behind the bonds, try the ten frame game.
Bonds at home
Hold up fingers and ask how many are down. Put 10 grapes on a plate, hide some under a cup, and ask how many are hidden. Little games like these, repeated often, turn the bonds of 10 into facts your child simply knows.
How to play Number Bonds Game
- Step Number bonds shows some counters in a frame. How many more make 5 (level 1) or 10 (levels 2 and 3)?
- Step Add to 5 shows two groups of counters. How many altogether?
- Step Make ten shows two ten frames, for example 8 and 5. Fill the first frame to 10, then add what is left.
- A wrong answer shows the counters and the strategy in one sentence. Try again.
Number Bonds Game tips
Learn the pairs of 10 first
1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5. Once these are automatic, adding past 10 becomes easy.
Turn it around
If 7 and 3 make 10, then 3 and 7 make 10 too, and 10 take away 3 is 7. One bond gives four facts.
Hands are a ten frame
Show 7 fingers. How many are down? Children always carry the bonds of 10 with them.
Frequently asked questions
What are number bonds?
Number bonds are pairs of numbers that make a total, like 6 and 4 make 10. They show how a number can be split into parts and joined back together, which is the basis of adding and subtracting.
Which number bonds should children learn first?
Bonds to 5, then bonds to 10. After that, bonds to 20 and to 100 follow the same pattern.
How do number bonds help with adding?
They power the make-ten strategy. For 8 + 5, a child who knows 8 and 2 make 10 splits 5 into 2 and 3, and gets 10 + 3 = 13.
