Hundreds charts are a valuable tool for helping kids master counting skills, developing number sense, recognizing patterns, and more. Here are some of my favorite hundreds chart activities and games to try in the classroom or at home.
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Hundreds Chart Activities
Let’s get started with some of my favorite hundreds chart activities.
Fill-in-the-Missing Number
When students need additional practice with counting to 100, I like using these missing number puzzles.
Skip Counting
To help students identify and see patterns, hundreds charts are a great tool to use. While counting by 10s, 5s, 2s, etc., students can either color or cover the numbers on the chart.
Hundreds Chart Puzzles
Once students have a good grasp on numbers to 100, putting puzzles together is a great activity. For younger students, fewer pieces is best.
I recommend printing each puzzle on a different color of paper. I love Astrobrights since there is a such a large variety of colors and shades.
Mystery Numbers
I used this activity a lot during our math warm-ups in second grade. Each of my students had a hundreds chart in a dry erase pocket. As I delivered a clue, students would hunt for and then mark the number using a dry erase marker. Here are some examples of how we played:
- My secret number has 5 tens.
- My secret number is even.
- The digit in the ones place is greater than 7.
or
- Circle the number with 7 ones and 3 tens.
- Place an X on the number that is 10 more than 83.
- Draw a square around the number that is the same as 9+3.
Hidden Pictures
When you can combine a hundreds chart with coloring and a little bit of mystery, students are engaged. I have found many free ones online by searching Hundreds Chart Mystery Picture.
Hundreds Chart Games
Need a way to boost engagement with the hundreds chart? Try one of these games.
Battleship
This is a game for two players. Have each student color or mark “ships” on their hundreds chart. I have students place three ships (3, 4, and 5 consecutive numbers, placed horizontally or vertically). Students take turns guessing where their opponents ships are and reply with a hit or miss. The first to find all of the ships wins.
Roll to 100
Students love playing dice games. In this game, students can either play alone or with a partner. They simply roll their way to 100. I also have versions for roll to 20 and 50. You can find this dice game here.
Seeing Stars
This 2-player game builds off of Roll to 100. Seeing Stars contains specially marked squares that either move students forward or backward. The goal is to be the first to reach 100. You can find this game here.
Spin “Four” the Win
Once students have a good grasp on tens and ones, they are ready to play Spin “Four” the Win. In this 2-player game, students are spinning and creating 2-digit numbers. The first to get four in a row (horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or in a square) wins. You can find this game here.
Movin’ and Groovin’
Movin’ and Groovin’ is a fun way to get your students adding by 1s and 10s on the board. In this 2-player game, the first to reach 100 wins the game. You can find this game here.
Up Down and All Around
Like Movin’ and Groovin’, this 2-player game gets students moving their way around the hundreds chart. This time, students start in the middle of the board and work on both addition and subtraction. The first to reach 100 wins the game. You can find this game here.
Hundreds Chart Teaching Tips
Here are a few of my favorite tips for helping students master the hundreds chart. To help with mental math (ie adding and subtracting by 10s and 1s), I love using windows. These are squares placed over a number on the chart. When students open the windows or lift the flaps, they can see if they have correctly added or subtracted by 1s and 10s.
To help students see how the numbers on the hundreds chart connect, there are two things I like to do. One is to wrap the chart around at a slight angle so no matter how the students rotate it, they can continue counting to 100. Another is to cut the hundreds chart into 10 rows and create a horizontal number line. Once your kids have mastered counting to 100, please introduce them to the 120 chart. This will help them easily start counting past 100 correctly.
Ready to give some of these hundreds chart activities a try? Grab these free printables to get started.
These hundreds chart activities would be a great way to celebrate the 100th Day of School.
Need more math resources and ideas? Try these:
- The Best Math Manipulatives for the Classroom
- 5 Reasons to Play Math Games
- Games That Build Thinking Skills
- Dice and Card Games Your Kids Will Love
- Math Games, Activities, and Freebies
Have fun with the hundreds chart!
