Hundreds Chart Activities for the Classroom and Home

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 charts are a great tool for helping students recognize patterns. As students count by 2s, 5s, 10s, and more, they can color or cover the numbers on the hundreds 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.

Once students have a good grasp on numbers to 100, putting puzzles together is a great activity. You can print puzzles on different colors of paper to keep them easily sorted.

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.

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.

Working with the hundreds chart doesn't need to be boring. Keep your students on their toes by using riddles and clues to find mystery numbers on the chart.

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.

If you want your students to engage with the hundreds chart, let them play games. In this game, students roll their way from 1 to 100. There are versions for 20 and 50, as well as digital options, too.

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.

If you want your students to engage with the hundreds chart, let them play games. These spinner games help your students move around the board while getting familiar with place value and mental math.

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.

Use paper windows to help students add and subtract by 10s and 1s more easily. These hundreds chart windows help students strengthen mental math and are self-checking.

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.