Base-Ten Blocks

About the Base-Ten Blocks

Place value clicks for most students the moment they can see ten ones become one ten, and one hundred separate cubes stack into a flat hundred block. This tool renders any number from 0 to 9,999 as thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones blocks built from individual unit squares, color-coded by place so the grouping is visible rather than just labeled.

Type a number directly, drag the slider, or tap the +1 / +10 / +100 / +1000 buttons to change it one place at a time and watch which block group grows.

How to use it in your classroom

1. Enter a number in the box, or drag the slider to land on a value between 0 and 9,999.
2. Use the +1, +10, +100, and +1000 buttons to build a number up one place at a time and watch each block group update.
3. Compare the four place-value panels — thousands, hundreds, tens, ones — to see how many blocks of each size make up the current number.
4. Check the expanded form at the bottom, which writes the number as the sum of its place values.

Tips from the classroom

• Start a lesson at zero and build up using only the +1 button until you cross ten, so students see the regrouping moment rather than jumping straight to a four-digit number.
• Use the +100 and +1000 buttons in isolation to isolate one place value at a time when a student is confusing tens and hundreds.
• Pair this with physical base-ten blocks at a small group table and use the screen as the model students check their hands-on work against.
• The expanded form line is a quick formative check — cover the visual blocks and ask a student to predict it before revealing.

Frequently asked questions