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Base-Ten Block Builder

Place value you can build

Build 347 from hundreds, tens, and ones. This is a standalone Fun Math game for seeing why each digit has a different weight.

What this game shows · Base-Ten Place Value

Base-ten place value is the rule that a digit's spot decides its weight. This game makes that physical: build 347 by trading hundreds-flats, tens-rods, and ones-cubes — and the number reads itself out as you go.

Ones cube
1 unit. Smallest physical block in the system.
Tens rod
10 ones glued into one rod. The 4 in 40 is four of these.
Hundreds flat
10 tens-rods merged into one square. The 3 in 300 is three of these.

Aligned with CCSS 2.NBT.A.1 (understand a three-digit number as hundreds, tens, ones).

Base-ten builder

Build any three-digit number from flats, rods, and units.

347
Hundreds
3
Tens
4
Ones
7
Digits: 3 hundreds, 4 tens, 7 ones.

Place value visualizer

Who this demo helps, and where to practice next

Base-Ten Block Builder is built for students who need to see why a digit changes value when it moves to another place. It gives the page a clear search purpose: learn the model, manipulate it, then continue into the matching grade-level practice.

Base-Ten Block Builder helps when a student can copy a procedure but cannot explain why it works. The demo slows the idea down into a visible model before sending the learner to guided missions.

Learning goals

  • The 3 in 347 is worth 300 because it sits in the hundreds column.
  • A ten rod is not ten marks on paper — it is one object that carries ten ones inside it.
  • Students who build the number can see why 304 and 340 are not interchangeable.

How to play

  1. 1 Build the number with the model before reading the digits.
  2. 2 Change one column at a time and say what value changed.
  3. 3 Open the related grade topic when the student can explain the trade in words.
FAQ

Base-ten blocks, explained.

01 What does place value mean in base ten? × 10 each step

Every position in a number is worth ten times the position on its right. So in 347, the 3 is worth 300, the 4 is worth 40, and the 7 is worth 7.

02 Why is 304 not the same as 340? Spot decides weight

The digit 4 is in the tens spot for one and in the ones spot for the other. Tens-rods and ones-cubes are physically different objects, so the totals (304 vs 340) differ by 36.

03 How do you "trade" between columns? 10 ↔ 1

Ten ones cubes = one tens rod. Ten tens rods = one hundreds flat. Trading up keeps the value but reduces the block count.

04 Which grade is this game for? Grades 1–2

Grades 1–2, aligned with CCSS 2.NBT.A.1. Important foundation for adding, subtracting, and later decimal place value.

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