Numbers to 10 · Code with Martin

How many? A number tells you

How many sweets do you have? How many cars are in the car park? How many fingers do you have on one hand? A number answers all of that. A number tells you how many there are.

You already know the numbers to ten: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. They go nicely one after another. Always in the same order. Like stairs. First step, second step, third step.

You can count on your fingers. That is fine. Fingers are your first counting tool. You have exactly ten of them. That is why numbers to ten feel so easy.

Numbers are all around you. On a house door. On a football shirt. On a lift button. Even your age is a number. Every number says something. And today you will learn how to find it yourself when nobody tells you — by counting.

In this lesson you will learn to count things the right way. So none of them sneak away. And so you do not count any of them twice. That is the whole trick.

Ema has a pile of sweets on the table. “I have more than you!” says Adam. “Prove it,” says Ema. Adam counts his: one, two, three… but he points too fast. He skips two sweets. He gets five. Ema counts slowly. She touches each sweet with a finger and slides it aside. One, two, three, four, five, six. “Six!” Adam counts again, this time slowly. Seven! He was right, but the first count was wrong. “Again, together,” says Ema. They count out loud and slide the sweets one by one. It comes out the same every time. Fast counting lies. Slow counting is sure.

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Count slowly and point at each thing with a finger. Slide aside what you have already counted.

How to count so it comes out right

Counting has four rules. If you keep them, it will come out right every time.

1. Point at each thing. Touch every sweet, every brick, with a finger. One tap = one number.

2. Say the numbers in order. One, two, three, four… Never skip. Numbers are like stairs. You must not miss a step.

3. The last number is the answer. When you stop at seven, you have seven things. The last number you say tells you how many there are.

4. Slide the counted ones aside. Once a thing has its number, put it on another pile. Then you will not count it twice.

And a check: count the same things once more. Same number? Great. A different number? A mistake snuck in. Count a third time, even more slowly.

You can write numbers too. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 — those are digits. Ten is written with two digits: 10. Why two? We will talk about that later. For now it is enough that you know it.

How many bricks?

Bricks are lying on the carpet. We count them together.

I point at the first brick: one. I slide it aside. I point at the next: two. Slide. Three. Slide. Four. Slide. Five. Slide. There is no brick left on the carpet.

The last number was five. So there are 5 bricks.

Check: I count the pile of slid-aside bricks. One, two, three, four, five. Five again. It matches.

How many colouring pencils?

There are lots of colouring pencils in the pencil case. We tip them onto the table.

I pick them up one by one and say: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. The table is empty. I have them all in my hand.

There are 8 colouring pencils. The last number I said is the answer.

Watch out for a trap: if I picked up two pencils at once and said only one number, I would get seven. That would be wrong. One thing = one number.

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The most common mistake: you count fast and skip a thing. Or you point at one thing twice. So count slowly and slide the counted ones aside.

Play it

Before you go to the sheet, try it with your eyes. This is not a test — it is a game. Tap until you see it.

Practice: now you do it 🎲

Now try it for real. You will see all the questions at once, like on paper. Start with ten. If it goes well, add more.

Count to 10. You can picture the dots on a number line.

Practise the questions

On paper

Take paper, a pencil and ten small things. Bricks, buttons or beans, for example.

Write the numbers 1 to 10 in a nice row. Say them out loud as you write them.
Put a pile of bricks on the table (a parent will give you between 3 and 10). Count them by the rules: point, say the number, slide aside. Write the result.
Draw 7 circles. Then count them and check that there really are seven.
Count how many chairs you have at home. Write that number.

Now you 💪

I can say the numbers from 1 to 10 in order without skipping.
When I count things, I point at each one with a finger and slide the counted one aside.
I know that the last number I say tells how many things there are.

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Done when: You count a pile of things twice and get the same number both times.

What to take from this lesson

A number tells you how many there are.
Count slowly: point, say the number, slide aside.
The last number you say is the answer.
A check = count once more.
Fingers are a good counting tool. You have ten of them.